{"id":78743,"date":"2026-04-03T22:38:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/?p=78743"},"modified":"2026-09-28T13:35:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T10:35:37","slug":"iraq-congo-world-cup-2026-playoff-finals-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/iraq-congo-world-cup-2026-playoff-finals-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq and Congo complete the 48 teams: the 2026 World Cup playoff finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Iraq and DR Congo are the last two teams to join the tournament. Iraq beat Bolivia 2-1, and Congo beat Jamaica 1-0 in extra time \u2014 finally sealing the field of 48 teams that will take part in the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n<h2>\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf6 Iraq 2-1 Bolivia \u2014 a return after 40 years<\/h2>\n<p>At the BBVA Stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, Iraq returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1986. Ali Al-Mahdi opened the scoring in the 18th minute, Bolivia equalized through Moises Paniagua (38'), but Aymen Hussein was decisive in the 53rd minute. This historic moment marks 40 years of waiting \u2014 and the Iraqi bench burst into tears at the final whistle.<\/p>\n<p>Iraq was drawn into<strong>Group G<\/strong> alongside Argentina, Jordan and Austria. Their first match will be against Messi's Argentina \u2014 a matchup every football fan will want to see.<\/p>\n<h2>\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde9 DR Congo 1-0 Jamaica \u2014 a goal in extra time<\/h2>\n<p>In a match that ended 0-0 in regular time, Axel Tuanzebe was the hero for Congo when he scored after a corner in the 100th minute. Congo, representing a population of over 100 million, was drawn into<strong>Group H<\/strong> alongside Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n<h2>\ud83d\udcca UEFA playoff finals \u2014 results<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier in March, four European teams completed their quota:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sweden<\/strong> \u2014 advanced from the UEFA playoff<\/li>\n<li><strong>T\u00fcrkiye<\/strong> \u2014 advanced from the UEFA playoff<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/strong> \u2014 eliminated Italy (!)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Czechia<\/strong> \u2014 completed the final quartet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The big surprise: <strong>Italy stayed home<\/strong>. Four-time world champions will not take part in the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n<h2>\ud83c\udf0d All 48 teams \u2014 the full groups<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Group A:<\/strong> Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Czechia<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group B:<\/strong> Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group C:<\/strong> Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group D:<\/strong> USA, Australia, Paraguay, T\u00fcrkiye<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group E:<\/strong> Germany, Cura\u00e7ao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group F:<\/strong> Japan, Sweden, Netherlands, Tunisia<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group G:<\/strong> Argentina, Jordan, Austria, Algeria<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group H:<\/strong> Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, DR Congo<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group I:<\/strong> France, Senegal, Norway, New Zealand<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group J:<\/strong> Spain, Costa Rica, Tajikistan, Iraq<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group K:<\/strong> England, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Serbia<\/li>\n<li><strong>Group L:<\/strong> Denmark, Egypt, Ecuador, Peru<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\ud83d\udcc5 What's next?<\/h2>\n<p>The World Cup will begin on <strong>11 June 2026<\/strong> with the opening match of Mexico against South Africa at the Azteca. 104 matches, 16 stadiums, 48 teams \u2014 the biggest tournament in history.<\/p>\n<p>Looking for tickets? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/worldcup\/\">All 2026 World Cup tickets<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/sportpackages\/\">Sports packages with flight and hotel<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u05e2\u05d9\u05e8\u05d0\u05e7 \u05d5-DR \u05e7\u05d5\u05e0\u05d2\u05d5 \u05d4\u05df \u05e9\u05ea\u05d9 \u05d4\u05e0\u05d1\u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05d4\u05e6\u05d8\u05e8\u05e4\u05d5 \u05dc\u05d8\u05d5\u05e8\u05e0\u05d9\u05e8. \u05e2\u05d9\u05e8\u05d0\u05e7 \u05d2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d4 \u05e2\u05dc \u05d1\u05d5\u05dc\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9\u05d4 2-1, \u05d5\u05e7\u05d5\u05e0\u05d2\u05d5 \u05e0\u05d9\u05e6\u05d7\u05d4 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d2'\u05de\u05d9\u05d9\u05e7\u05d4 1-0 \u05d1\u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05db\u05d4 \u2014 \u05d5\u05db\u05da \u05e0\u05d7\u05ea\u05dd \u05e1\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05ea \u05de\u05e2\u05e8\u05da 48 \u05d4\u05e0\u05d1\u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05d9\u05e9\u05ea\u05ea\u05e4\u05d5 \u05d1\u05de\u05d5\u05e0\u05d3\u05d9\u05d0\u05dc 2026 \u05d1\u05d0\u05e8\u05d4&quot;\u05d1, \u05de\u05e7\u05e1\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5 \u05d5\u05e7\u05e0\u05d3\u05d4. \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf6 \u05e2\u05d9\u05e8\u05d0\u05e7 2-1 \u05d1\u05d5\u05dc\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9\u05d4 \u2014 \u05d7\u05d6\u05e8\u05d4 \u05d0\u05d7\u05e8\u05d9 40 \u05e9\u05e0\u05d4 \u05d1\u05d0\u05e6\u05d8\u05d3\u05d9\u05d5\u05df BBVA \u05d1\u05de\u05d5\u05e0\u05d8\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9, \u05de\u05e7\u05e1\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5, \u05e2\u05d9\u05e8\u05d0\u05e7 \u05d7\u05d6\u05e8\u05d4 \u05dc\u05de\u05d5\u05e0\u05d3\u05d9\u05d0\u05dc \u05dc\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4 \u05de\u05d0\u05d6 1986. \u05e2\u05dc\u05d9 \u05d0\u05dc\u05de\u05d4\u05d3\u05d9 \u05e4\u05ea\u05d7 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":78750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[30311,30319],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport-news","category-world-cup-2026"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78744,"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78743\/revisions\/78744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tiktik-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}