Across the globe, football is played from grassroots to professional. From the less economically developed nations to the most, there is almost always a connection with the beautiful game. At the very top of the game, we find the usual suspects: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and so on. Outside of Europe, we find the giants of South America with Boca, River Plate and Flamengo. Africa can boast of the Egyptian giants, and Morocco can bring forward their teams from Casablanca.

CONCACAF steps into the ring with representatives from Mexico and the United States, while Asia promotes the Japanese, Korean, and Middle Eastern teams. But what about Oceania? Since the beginning of the beautiful game, Oceania has been behind the other continents in terms of footballing progress. The shining light of the Oceania Football Confederation was Australia; however, they have since moved to the Asian Football Confederation to pursue tougher challenges, which they believe will help their nation succeed. 

The 2026 World Cup is now only two years away and already in some regions of the globe qualification for the tournament has begun, Africa, Asian and South America (Conmebol) have played numerous games with the usual suspects leading the way in most stages.

The likes of Argentina, Egypt and Japan currently sitting top of their respective groups. With this tournament to be like no other, the format expanding from 32 teams up to 48, but what does this mean?