Battle for WC places heats up

Big-league club soccer takes a break for some 10 days after frantic spending on the last day of the transfer window on Monday, and the spotlight now shifts to 2026 World Cup qualifiers including key games for South Africa against Lesotho and Nigeria - for TAB football customers there are a range of opportunities to score big wins including two carryover Soccer 10 pools and a carryover Soccer Any 13 Xtra.

- By Mark Gleeson

World Cup qualification has now reached a crucial juncture across all continents with the preliminaries closer to revealing the line-up for the finals in North America next year.

Beside the three host nations (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) who are automatically in the field, a further 10 countries have booked their place already. In total, there will be 48 teams competing in the tournament, which has been expanded from the previous 32 participants, and kicks off next June.

The enlarged field means nine guaranteed places for Africa at the 2026 finals, and the first qualifier from the continent should be known on Friday when Morocco hosts Niger. A home win is all Morocco need to return to the World Cup after their heroics in Qatar, where they became the first African side to get as far as the semi-finals.