Again, just tidying up on ancient history: Jan Krzysztof Duda finished the tournament of his young life - thus far - in fantastic style, defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen in the semi-finals of the World Cup to qualify for next year's Candidates, while Sergey Karjakin also qualified by meeting Duda there. Duda won that final match to win the event, garnering more money and more prestige, but both players succeeded in their primary aim.
This means that half the eight Candidates' spots are settled. In addition to Duda and Karjakin, one spot will go to the loser of the world championship match between Carlsen and challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi in November, and another is going to Teimour Radjabov (as compensation for his not playing in the 2020 Candidates).
In the old days (e.g. the previous cycle) one slot would be allocated by rating, but unfortunately for (most likely) Fabiano Caruana, that is no longer the case. Two spots will be allocated to the top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament (starting October 25 in Riga) and two more spots go to the top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix (a series of three tournaments to be played between February and April of next year in Berlin; 24 players will qualify for this series, with each playing in two of the three events).
I congratulate FIDE on their continual improvements on the world championship cycle. In the old days, the world's best players were the most likely to get a shot at becoming the world champion. Those foolish days are long gone - Caissa has been deposed, and replaced by the worship of Tyche.