Italy in the UEFA region competes with the best countries as compared to other regions and, hence, is more difficult to qualify. Do you think Haiti in the Concacaf region is a stronger team than another team in UEFA?
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A total of 206 countries entered the qualification cycle to compete for a spot in the current 48-team tournament.The global qualification process is a massive, multi-year journey organized by six separate continental confederations:Breakdown by ConfederationUEFA (Europe): 54 teams competed for 16 direct spots.CAF (Africa): 53 teams competed for 9 direct spots (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).AFC (Asia): 46 teams competed for 8 direct spots (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).Concacaf (North/Central America & Caribbean): 32 teams competed for 3 direct spots (plus 2 intercontinental playoff spots). The 3 host nations—the United States, Mexico, and Canada—qualified automatically and did not have to play through the preliminary groups.CONMEBOL (South America): 10 teams played in a single league format for 6 direct spots (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).OFC (Oceania): 11 teams competed for 1 direct spot (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).
Is it harder to qualify in UEFA zone?
Yup.
But Italy should still have qualified.
They are Italy.
Whoa...Europe got 16 bids. If they couldn’t wrangle one they’re not a top team.