Despite the expanding nature of international football, qualification tournaments remain essentially unchanged. Teams are grouped into zones which roughly correspond to their continents, and compete for a fixed number of berths in the final tournament. The top team in each zone receives automatic qualification, and a set number of places are awarded to winners of inter-confederation playoffs.

The first round of World Cup qualifying started in March, with teams drawn into groups of four and playing traditional home-and-away matches. The group winners and the two best runners-up qualify for the next phase, which culminates in November 2025.

Having never qualified for the World Cup before, Suriname are in an excellent position to take one of the eight direct spots on offer in 2027. Managed by the former Netherlands goalkeeper Stanley Menzo, they are steadily climbing Fifa’s rankings since allowing players with Surinamese heritage to play for the national side.

Egypt are in a good position to secure a place at the next tournament, although new manager Gennaro Gattuso needs to see off chief rivals Burkina Faso and Ethiopia to ensure that Mohamed Salah and Co. join the party. The Pharaohs host Ethiopia in Debrecen on Friday and travel to Ouagadougou for a key clash with their other big rivals three days later.

Israel are also in a strong position to qualify for the finals. Having lost to Italy early on in their campaign, the Azzurri were beaten by the same opponents last month in a thrilling encounter that was decided at the death with Sandro Tonali’s late winner.