The road to the 2026 World Cup is a long one, and no fewer than 50 nations play qualifiers on Thursday, Sept. 4 as teams across the globe vie for one of the 48 bids to next year’s tournament.
For soccer fans, there’s a possible run of 15 straight hours of play available to watch. The slate of World Cup qualifiers will kick off in Africa, with Chad hosting Ghana at 9 a.m. ET, and the latest qualifying match of the day (Guatemala vs. El Salvador) won’t kick off until 10 p.m. ET.
The most pressure-packed game might come in South America, where Colombia and Bolivia face off in Barranquilla. Neither team has clinched a berth, and with two rounds left to play, a draw would eliminate the visitors. Meanwhile, Colombia has far loftier expectations than scraping by, and one more stumble would put them into a potential must-win next week at Venezuela.
Elsewhere, some of Europe’s biggest powers will be in action. Germany will face a potentially tricky trip to Slovakia, while Spain will head to Sofia to take on Bulgaria. The Netherlands, who have 10 goals for and none conceded after two matches, will host Poland in what could be one of their more difficult matches in Group G.
Here is a full list of every 2026 World Cup qualifier for Thursday, including start times and options to catch select games:
World Cup qualifiers today: Times, schedule, how to watch
All times Eastern.
Confederation of African Football
Group A: Guinea-Bissau vs. Sierra Leone – 12 p.m.
Group D: Angola vs. Libya – 12 p.m.
Group D: Mauritius vs. Cape Verde – 12 p.m.
Group D: Cameroon vs. Eswatini – 3 p.m.
Group G: Algeria vs. Botswana – 3 p.m.
Group H: São Tomé and Príncipe vs. Equatorial Guinea – 12 p.m.
Group H: Tunisia vs. Liberia – 3 p.m.
Group I: Chad vs. Ghana – 9 a.m.
Group I: Madagascar vs. Central African Republic – 12 p.m.
Group I: Mali vs. Comoros – 3 p.m.
Watch Thursday’s CAF World Cup qualifiers on ESPN+
Concacaf (North and Central America, and the Caribbean)
Group A: Suriname vs. Panama – 5:30 p.m.
Group A: Guatemala vs. El Salvador – 10 p.m.
Watch Concacaf World Cup qualifying on Fubo (free trial)
CONMEBOL (South America)
Matchday 17: Uruguay vs. Peru – 7:30 p.m.
Matchday 17: Colombia vs. Bolivia – 7:30 p.m.
Matchday 17: Paraguay vs. Ecuador – 7:30 p.m.
Matchday 17: Argentina vs. Venezuela – 7:30 p.m.
Matchday 17: Brazil vs. Chile – 8:30 p.m.
UEFA (Europe)
Group A: Luxembourg vs. Northern Ireland – 2:45 p.m.
Group A: Slovakia vs. Germany – 2:45 p.m.
Group E: Georgia vs. Turkey – 12 p.m.
Group E: Bulgaria vs. Spain – 2:45 p.m.
Group G: Lithuania vs. Malta – 12 p.m.
Group G: Netherlands vs. Poland – 2:45 p.m.
Group J: Kazakhstan vs. Wales – 10 a.m.
Group J: Liechtenstein vs. Belgium – 2:45 p.m.
Watch Thursday’s UEFA World Cup qualifying games on Fubo (free trial)