While qualified teams will be participating in friendlies, several nations will be battling it out in World Cup play-offs across several continents.
With a focus on the European qualifiers, Flashscore takes a look at six star players who could be utterly pivotal for their nations in these do-or-die clashes.
Kenan Yildiz (Turkiye)
Turkiye are enjoying a very strong generation of attacking talent, and as they look to secure their spot at the World Cup for the third time in their history - and first in 24 years - several of their young stars will need to step up.
A lot of that focus will be on Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz, who has been enjoying a stellar season as the club's talisman. The 20-year-old has 10 goals and six assists, and only two players have scored more than him in Serie A.
An electric forward with excellent dribbling skills, he is fantastic in front of goal, but is also a major creative force. There is a reason he was handed the famous number 10 shirt at Juve and signed a bumper contract until 2030.
However, Yildiz hasn't always played his best football in the red of Turkiye. He has just five goals in 26 appearances for his national team, but three of those did come in these World Cup qualifiers.
Turkiye have been handed a pretty good draw too, with Romania their semi-final opponents before a clash with either Slovakia or Kosovo.
Harry Wilson (Wales)
The Welsh wizard with an absolute wand of a left foot, Harry Wilson has been sensational in the Premier League with Fulham this season. His goal catalogue is absolutely ridiculous, and his magic could be the defining factor in Wales' quest for back-to-back World Cup appearances and just the third in their history.
Wilson has 10 goals and six assists for Fulham this campaign, and with his contract running out in the summer, he is certain to be in demand by several top clubs.
During qualifying, the 29-year-old registered five goals and two assists in five games, while he also scored a hat-trick against North Macedonia when captaining his country for the very first time.
However, Wales have been handed a tough draw. They face Bosnia & Herzegovina in their semi-final, before a potential decider against Italy - if they make it past Northern Ireland.
Troy Parrott (Republic of Ireland)
Troy Parrott already made himself an Irish hero back in November when his incredible hat-trick and 96th-minute winner saw them beat Hungary 3-2 to secure a spot in the play-offs. His attention will now turn firmly towards securing their spot at the World Cup for a fourth time, and first since 2002.
Much like other names on this list, the 24-year-old striker is having an exceptional season with AZ Alkmaar, scoring 28 goals in all competitions.
Parrott scored five goals in four World Cup qualifying games and will need to continue his rich vein of goalscoring form into the play-offs. They face Czechia in their semi-final, before a meeting with either Denmark or North Macedonia.
Federico Dimarco (Italy)
A flying wing-back, Federico Dimarco has racked up astonishing numbers in defence for Inter Milan this season, as his club looks on course to win the Serie A title. He now has to help take the second-most successful nation ever back to the World Cup, after missing the last two editions in 2014 and 2018.
Incredibly, Dimarco has six goals and 14 assists in Serie A this season, with the assist record in Serie A sitting at 16. It would take a brave man to bet against him breaking that. But aside from his output, he is a machine physically, bombing up and down the left-hand side of the pitch for Inter.
For a nation that has won the World Cup four times, failing to qualify for the last two tournaments has been a serious disaster, and they will be desperately trying to correct that.
Their draw is pretty handy, too. First up, they take on Northern Ireland, with either Wales or Bosnia waiting.
Rasmus Hojlund (Denmark)
After a really tough period at Manchester United, Rasmus Hojlund has rediscovered his goalscoring touch under Antonio Conte at Napoli this season, finally looking like the striker that saw him make the move to the Premier League.
Denmark have fairly regularly qualified for the World Cup, appearing at the last two editions and five of the last seven, and Hojlund will want to be the man to lead his nation to their third in a row.
The 23-year-old has 13 goals in all competitions for Napoli this season, but their hopes of retaining the league title are looking slim, sitting seven points off the summit with eight games remaining.
North Macedonia are Denmark's opponents in the semi-final, with Parrott's Ireland or Czechia in the final.
Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden)
It was an absolutely horrid World Cup qualifying campaign for Sweden, finishing bottom of their group with two points. However, after securing a spot in the play-offs courtesy of their Nations League ranking, they will now have a second bite of the cherry under the management of Graham Potter.
Viktor Gyokeres is Sweden's main man up front, especially in the absence of Alexander Isak. The big centre forward hasn't always convinced leading the line for Arsenal this season, yet he has still scored 15 goals in all competitions, which isn't a bad return.
Gyokeres failed to score a single goal in qualifying, but he will now be hoping that Potter can get the best out of him during the play-offs.
Sweden possess a talented squad of players, and despite their struggles, they will fancy their chances of making it back to the World Cup after missing the 2022 tournament.
If they want to get their, they will have to take down Ukraine first, before either Poland or Albania in the final.
