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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Tournament details
Dates12 October 2023 – 18 November 2025
Teams46 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played225
Goals scored630 (2.8 per match)
Attendance5,057,905 (22,480 per match)
Top scorerQatar Almoez Ali (12 goals)
← 2022
2030 →

The Asian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for national teams of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). AFC teams were allocated eight direct qualifying slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot.[1]

The qualification process involved five rounds; the first two also serving as qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

Entrants

[edit]

All FIFA-affiliated nations entered the joint qualification process for both the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup; Northern Mariana Islands, who are not members of FIFA, would have entered through the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification play-off round.[2] However, the AFC excluded Northern Mariana Islands from the draw for the play-off round.[3]

Format

[edit]

The qualification format was announced on 1 August 2022, having been revamped to fit the increased finals allocation of eight direct qualifiers and one play-off qualifier:[4][5]

  • First round: 20 teams (ranked 27–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The ten winners advanced to the second round. The best loser qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification third round, while the remaining teams qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round.
  • Second round: 36 teams (ranked 1–26 and ten first-round winners) were divided into nine groups of four teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The nine group winners and group runners-up advanced to the third round and automatically qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. The remaining teams qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification third round.
  • Third round: 18 teams which advanced from the second round were divided into three groups of six teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top two teams of each group qualified directly for the FIFA World Cup, the third- and fourth-placed teams advanced to the fourth round.
  • Fourth round: Six third- and fourth-placed teams from the third round were divided into two groups of three teams each. The teams played against each other once in a centralized venue. The winners of each group qualified for the World Cup, and the runners-up of each group advanced to the fifth round.
  • Fifth round: The group runners-up in the fourth round competed home-and-away over two legs to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation play-offs.[2]

Draw

[edit]

The draw for the first and second rounds of joint qualification took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 July 2023.[5][6] The top 26 ranked teams were given byes to the second round, while the 20 teams entering the first round were seeded into two pots of 10 teams each and drawn alternately from pot 1 then pot 2 to form a pairing. The team from pot 1 hosted the first leg and the team from pot 2 hosted the second leg. Pots 1, 2 and 3 for the second round draw contained the teams ranked 1–9, 10–18, and 19–26, respectively, while pot 4 contained placeholders for the ten winners of the first round ties. Nine teams were drawn from pot 4 first and placed in position 4 of each group. The tenth team from pot 4 was moved to Pot 3, and subsequently drawn at random from Pot 3. Teams were then drawn into each group sequentially from pots 3, 2, and 1.[5]

From the July 2023 FIFA World Rankings[7]
Bye to second round Competing in first round
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 1 Pot 2
  1.  Japan (20)
  2.  Iran (22)
  3.  Australia (27)
  4.  South Korea (28)
  5.  Saudi Arabia (54)
  6.  Qatar (59)
  7.  Iraq (70)
  8.  United Arab Emirates (72)
  9.  Oman (73)
  1.  Uzbekistan (74)
  2.  China (80)
  3.  Jordan (82)
  4.  Bahrain (86)
  5.  Syria (94)
  6.  Vietnam (95)
  7.  Palestine (96)
  8.  Kyrgyzstan (97)
  9.  India (99)
  1.  Lebanon (100)
  2.  Tajikistan (110)
  3.  Thailand (113)
  4.  North Korea (115)
  5.  Philippines (135)
  6.  Malaysia (136)
  7.  Kuwait (137)
  8.  Turkmenistan (138)
  1.  Hong Kong (149)
  2.  Indonesia (150)
  3.  Chinese Taipei (153)
  4.  Maldives (155)
  5.  Yemen (156)
  6.  Afghanistan (157)
  7.  Singapore (158)
  8.  Myanmar (160)
  9.    Nepal (175)
  10.  Cambodia (176)
  1.  Macau (182)
  2.  Mongolia (183)
  3.  Bhutan (185)
  4.  Laos (187)
  5.  Bangladesh (189)
  6.  Brunei (190)
  7.  Timor-Leste (192)
  8.  Pakistan (201)
  9.  Guam (203)
  10.  Sri Lanka (204)

Schedule

[edit]

The competition schedule was as follows:[8][9][10][2]

Round Matchday Date
First round First leg 12 October 2023
Second leg 17 October 2023
Second round Matchday 1 16 November 2023
Matchday 2 21 November 2023
Matchday 3 21 March 2024
Matchday 4 26 March 2024
Matchday 5 6 June 2024
Matchday 6 11 June 2024
Round Matchday Date
Third round Matchday 1 5 September 2024
Matchday 2 10 September 2024
Matchday 3 10 October 2024
Matchday 4 15 October 2024
Matchday 5 14–15 November 2024
Matchday 6 19 November 2024
Matchday 7 20 March 2025
Matchday 8 25 March 2025
Matchday 9 5 June 2025
Matchday 10 10 June 2025
Round Matchday Date
Fourth round Matchday 1 8 October 2025
Matchday 2 11 October 2025
Matchday 3 14 October 2025
Fifth round First leg 13 November 2025
Second leg 18 November 2025

First round

[edit]
Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round of World Cup qualifying.

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Afghanistan 2–0 Mongolia1–01–0
Maldives 2–3 Bangladesh1–11–2
Singapore 3–1 Guam2–11–0
Yemen 4–1 Sri Lanka3–01–1
Myanmar 5–1 Macau5–10–0
Cambodia 0–1 Pakistan0–00–1
Chinese Taipei 7–0 Timor-Leste4–03–0
Indonesia 12–0 Brunei6–06–0
Hong Kong 4–2 Bhutan4–00–2
Nepal   2–1 Laos1–11–0

Second round

[edit]
Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round

Group A

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Qatar Kuwait India Afghanistan
1  Qatar 6 5 1 0 18 3 +15 16 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 3–0 2–1 8–1
2  Kuwait 6 2 1 3 6 6 0 7 1–2 — 0–1 1–0
3  India 6 1 2 3 3 7 −4 5 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 0–0 — 1–2
4  Afghanistan 6 1 2 3 3 14 −11 5 0–0 0–4 0–0 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Japan North Korea Syria Myanmar
1  Japan 6 6 0 0 24 0 +24 18 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 1–0 5–0 5–0
2  North Korea 6 3 0 3 11 7 +4 9 0–3[a] — 1–0 4–1
3  Syria 6 2 1 3 9 12 −3 7 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–5 1–0 — 7–0
4  Myanmar 6 0 1 5 3 28 −25 1 0–5 1–6 1–1 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Japan were awarded a 3–0 victory by forfeit, after North Korea refused to host the match citing concerns about a disease spreading in Japan.

Group C

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification South Korea China Thailand Singapore
1  South Korea 6 5 1 0 20 1 +19 16 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 1–0 1–1 5–0
2  China 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8[a] 0–3 — 1–1 4–1
3  Thailand 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8[a] Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 1–2 — 3–1
4  Singapore 6 0 1 5 5 24 −19 1 0–7 2–2 1–3 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: China 4, Thailand 1.

Group D

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Oman Kyrgyzstan Malaysia Chinese Taipei
1  Oman 6 4 1 1 11 2 +9 13 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 1–1 2–0 3–0
2  Kyrgyzstan 6 3 2 1 13 7 +6 11 1–0 — 1–1 5–1
3  Malaysia 6 3 1 2 9 9 0 10 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–2 4–3 — 3–1
4  Chinese Taipei 6 0 0 6 2 17 −15 0 0–3 0–2 0–1 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group E

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Iran Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Hong Kong
1  Iran 6 4 2 0 16 4 +12 14 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 0–0 5–0 4–0
2  Uzbekistan 6 4 2 0 13 4 +9 14 2–2 — 3–1 3–0
3  Turkmenistan 6 0 2 4 4 14 −10 2 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–1 1–3 — 0–0
4  Hong Kong 6 0 2 4 4 15 −11 2 2–4 0–2 2–2 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group F

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Iraq Indonesia Vietnam Philippines
1  Iraq 6 6 0 0 17 2 +15 18 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 5–1 3–1 1–0
2  Indonesia 6 3 1 2 8 8 0 10 0–2 — 1–0 2–0
3  Vietnam 6 2 0 4 6 10 −4 6 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–1 0–3 — 3–2
4  Philippines 6 0 1 5 3 14 −11 1 0–5 1–1 0–2 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group G

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Jordan Saudi Arabia Tajikistan Pakistan
1  Jordan 6 4 1 1 16 4 +12 13 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 0–2 3–0 7–0
2  Saudi Arabia[a] 6 4 1 1 12 3 +9 13 World Cup qualifying third round 1–2 — 1–0 4–0
3  Tajikistan 6 2 2 2 11 7 +4 8 Asian Cup qualifying third round 1–1 1–1 — 3–0
4  Pakistan 6 0 0 6 1 26 −25 0 0–3 0–3 1–6 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Saudi Arabia already qualified for the Asian Cup as the host nation and only competed to qualify for the World Cup.

Group H

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification United Arab Emirates Bahrain Yemen Nepal
1  United Arab Emirates 6 5 1 0 16 2 +14 16 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 1–1 2–1 4–0
2  Bahrain 6 3 2 1 11 3 +8 11 0–2 — 0–0 3–0
3  Yemen 6 1 2 3 5 9 −4 5 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 0–2 — 2–2
4    Nepal 6 0 1 5 2 20 −18 1 0–4 0–5 0–2 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group I

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Australia Palestine Lebanon Bangladesh
1  Australia 6 6 0 0 22 0 +22 18 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup — 5–0 2–0 7–0
2  Palestine 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 8 0–1 — 0–0 5–0
3  Lebanon 6 1 3 2 5 8 −3 6 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–5 0–0 — 4–0
4  Bangladesh 6 0 1 5 1 20 −19 1 0–2 0–1 1–1 —
Source: FIFA, AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Third round

[edit]
Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round

Group A

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Iran Uzbekistan United Arab Emirates Qatar Kyrgyzstan North Korea
1  Iran 10 7 2 1 19 8 +11 23 2026 FIFA World Cup — 2–2 2–0 4–1 1–0 3–0
2  Uzbekistan 10 6 3 1 14 7 +7 21 0–0 — 1–0 3–0 1–0 1–0
3  United Arab Emirates 10 4 3 3 15 8 +7 15 Fourth round 0–1 0–0 — 5–0 3–0 1–1
4  Qatar 10 4 1 5 17 24 −7 13 1–0 3–2 1–3 — 3–1 5–1
5  Kyrgyzstan 10 2 2 6 12 18 −6 8 2–3 2–3 1–1 3–1 — 1–0
6  North Korea 10 0 3 7 9 21 −12 3 2–3 0–1 1–2 2–2 2–2 —
Source: AFC, FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification South Korea Jordan Iraq Oman Palestine Kuwait
1  South Korea 10 6 4 0 20 7 +13 22 2026 FIFA World Cup — 1–1 3–2 1–1 0–0 4–0
2  Jordan 10 4 4 2 16 8 +8 16 0–2 — 0–1 4–0 3–1 1–1
3  Iraq 10 4 3 3 9 9 0 15 Fourth round 0–2 0–0 — 1–0 1–0 2–2
4  Oman 10 3 2 5 9 14 −5 11 1–3 0–3 0–1 — 1–0 4–0
5  Palestine 10 2 4 4 10 13 −3 10 1–1 1–3 2–1 1–1 — 2–2
6  Kuwait 10 0 5 5 7 20 −13 5 1–3 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–2 —
Source: AFC, FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group C

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Japan Australia Saudi Arabia Indonesia China Bahrain
1  Japan 10 7 2 1 30 3 +27 23 2026 FIFA World Cup — 1–1 0–0 6–0 7–0 2–0
2  Australia 10 5 4 1 16 7 +9 19 1–0 — 0–0 5–1 3–1 0–1
3  Saudi Arabia 10 3 4 3 7 8 −1 13 Fourth round 0–2 1–2 — 1–1 1–0 0–0
4  Indonesia 10 3 3 4 9 20 −11 12 0–4 0–0 2–0 — 1–0 1–0
5  China 10 3 0 7 7 20 −13 9 1–3 0–2 1–2 2–1 — 1–0
6  Bahrain 10 1 3 6 5 16 −11 6 0–5 2–2 0–2 2–2 0–1 —
Source: AFC, FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Fourth round

[edit]
Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round

Group A

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Qatar United Arab Emirates Oman
1  Qatar (H) 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 2026 FIFA World Cup — 2–1 —
2  United Arab Emirates 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3 Fifth round — — 2–1
3  Oman 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1 0–0 — —
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Group B

[edit]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Saudi Arabia Iraq Indonesia
1  Saudi Arabia (H) 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4 2026 FIFA World Cup — 0–0 —
2  Iraq 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4 Fifth round — — 1–0
3  Indonesia 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0 2–3 — —
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Fifth round

[edit]
Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fifth round

The two second-placed teams from the fourth round played against each other over two legs in November 2025 to determine which team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.[2]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
United Arab Emirates 2–3 Iraq1–11–2

Inter-confederation play-offs

[edit]
Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs)

The winner of the fifth round, Iraq, will join Bolivia (from CONMEBOL), DR Congo (from CAF), Jamaica and Suriname (both from CONCACAF), and New Caledonia (from OFC) in the inter-confederation play-offs.

The teams were ranked according to the November 2025 FIFA Men's World Ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches. The winners will meet the two highest-ranked teams in another set of single-elimination matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[11]

Semi-finalFinal
      
31 March 2026 – Guadalupe
 Iraq
26 March 2026 – Guadalupe
Winner match 2
 Bolivia
 Suriname

Qualified teams

[edit]
  Qualified for the World Cup
  Can qualify
  Failed to qualify
  Not an AFC member

The following teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup[a]
 Japan Third round group C winners 20 March 2025 7 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 Iran Third round group A winners 25 March 2025 6 (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 Uzbekistan Third round group A runners-up 5 June 2025 Debut[b]
 South Korea Third round group B winners 5 June 2025 11 (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 Jordan Third round group B runners-up 5 June 2025 Debut
 Australia Third round group C runners-up 10 June 2025 6 (1974[c], 2006[c], 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 Qatar Fourth round group A winners 14 October 2025 1 (2022)
 Saudi Arabia Fourth round group B winners 14 October 2025 6 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022)
  1. ^ Italics indicates hosts for that year.
  2. ^ Until 1991, Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union, which competed at seven World Cup tournaments. FIFA considers Russia to be the successor team of the Soviet Union.
  3. ^ a b Australia qualified as a member of the OFC in 1974 and 2006 (qualifying took place until 2005, and they left the OFC for the AFC in 2006).

Top goalscorers

[edit]

There were 630 goals scored in 225 matches, for an average of 2.8 goals per match.

12 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Unanimous decision expands FIFA World Cup to 48 teams from 2026". FIFA. 10 January 2017. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Six teams to contest Qualifiers Playoff for Saudi Arabia 2027". AFC. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Asia's pathway to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 confirmed". the-afc. Asian Football Confederation. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Seedings revealed for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers draw". the-AFC. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Stage set for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers draw". AFC. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  7. ^ "FIFA Men's Ranking – July 2023". FIFA. 20 July 2023.
  8. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2023 – Jul 2024)" (PDF). AFC. 7 April 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2024 – Jul 2025)" (PDF). AFC. 7 April 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  10. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar (Jul 2025 - Jun 2026)" (PDF). AFC. 26 June 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Path to 2026 laid out for Play-Off Tournament hopefuls". FIFA. 20 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
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