"The six intercontinental playoff games will be staged in Mexico from March 23-31 at stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey, who each will host four World Cup games next June. A total of six teams will advance from the two sets of playoffs in March to complete the first 48-nation lineup. The other 42 teams were confirmed this week when qualifying groups and playoff games were completed on four continents."
"A penalty scored by Iraq in the 17th minute of stoppage time against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday sent coach Graham Arnold's team through to the global playoffs. Iraq's 2-1 win in Basra sealed a 3-2 victory in the two-leg Asian playoff. Iraq's only World Cup appearance was in 1986, and Arnold coached his home nation Australia at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, reaching the round of 16."
Italy have not played at a World Cup since 2014 and were pushed into the playoffs after finishing runners-up to Norway. FIFA drew six-nation intercontinental playoffs outside Europe, with Congo seeded in the other bracket to play the winner of New Caledonia vs Jamaica. The six playoff games will be staged in Mexico from March 23-31 at Guadalajara and Monterrey. Six teams will advance from March playoffs to complete the first 48-nation World Cup lineup; the other 42 teams were confirmed when qualifying concluded. Iraq reached the global playoffs via a stoppage-time penalty; Iraq’s only prior World Cup appearance was 1986. New Caledonia is lowest-ranked at No. 149.
Read at ESPN.com
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