2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
The Asian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for national teams who are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). A total of 8 direct slots in the final tournament are available for AFC teams, as well as 1 inter-confederation play-off slot.[1]
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Tournament details | |
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Dates | 12 October 2023 – November 2025 |
Teams | 46 (from 1 confederation) |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 20 |
Goals scored | 51 (2.55 per match) |
Attendance | 138,247 (6,912 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | ![]() ![]() (3 goals each) |
AFC Asian Qualifiers |
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The qualification process involves five rounds; the first two also serve as the qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
Format
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:[2]
- First round:[note 1] 20 teams (ranked 27–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The ten winners advanced to the second round. Losing teams are eligible for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round (nine), and the AFC Solidarity Cup.
- Second round:[note 2] 36 teams (ranked 1–26 and ten first-round winners) are divided into nine groups of four teams. The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The nine group winners and group runners-up advance to the third round and automatically qualify for the AFC Asian Cup.
- Third round:[note 3] 18 teams which advance from the second round are divided into three groups of six teams. The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top two teams of each group qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup, the third and fourth-placed teams advance to the fourth round.
- Fourth round:[note 4] Six third and fourth-placed teams from the third round are divided into two groups of three teams each. The teams will play against each other once in a neutral venue. The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup, and the runners-up of each group advance to the fifth round.
- Fifth round:[note 4] The group runners-up in the fourth round will compete home-and-away over two legs to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation play-offs.[3]
Entrants
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 is not a FIFA member, will enter through the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification play-off round.[3]
The draw for the first and second rounds of joint qualification took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 July 2023.[2] 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 first round ties. Teams were drawn from pot 4 first and placed in position 4 of each group. After 9 teams were drawn, the remaining placeholder from pot 4 was placed in pot 3. Teams were then drawn into each group from pots 3, 2, and 1 to complete the field.[2]
Bye to second round | Competing in first round | |||
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Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
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Schedule
The competition schedule is expected to be as follows:[5][6][7][3]
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First round
The draw for the first round was held on 27 July 2023 at 14:00 MST (UTC+8) at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[8]
2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification first round | |||||||||
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Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
Afghanistan ![]() |
2–0 | ![]() |
1–0 | 1–0 | |||||
Maldives ![]() |
2–3 | ![]() |
1–1 | 1–2 | |||||
Singapore ![]() |
3–1 | ![]() |
2–1 | 1–0 | |||||
Yemen ![]() |
4–1 | ![]() |
3–0 | 1–1 | |||||
Myanmar ![]() |
5–1 | ![]() |
5–1 | 0–0 | |||||
Cambodia ![]() |
0–1 | ![]() |
0–0 | 0–1 | |||||
Chinese Taipei ![]() |
7–0 | ![]() |
4–0 | 3–0 | |||||
Indonesia ![]() |
12–0 | ![]() |
6–0 | 6–0 | |||||
Hong Kong ![]() |
4–2 | ![]() |
4–0 | 0–2 | |||||
Nepal ![]() |
2–1 | ![]() |
1–1 | 1–0 |
Second round
The draw for the second round was held on 27 July 2023 at 16:00 MST (UTC+8) at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[8]
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Group C
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Group D
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Group E
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Group F
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Group G
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
- Saudi Arabia already qualified for the Asian Cup as the host nation.
Group H
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Group I
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 11 Jun | 21 Mar | 16 Nov | |
2 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 Nov | — | 6 Jun | 26 Mar | ||
3 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 26 Mar | 16 Nov | — | 11 Jun | |
4 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 Jun | 21 Mar | 21 Nov | — |
Third round
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |
2 | A2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
3 | A3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fourth round |
4 | A4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
5 | A5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
6 | A6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | B1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |
2 | B2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
3 | B3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fourth round |
4 | B4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
5 | B5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
6 | B6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Group C
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | C1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |
2 | C2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
3 | C3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fourth round |
4 | C4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
5 | C5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
6 | C6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fourth round
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |
2 | A2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fifth round |
3 | A3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | B1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |
2 | B2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fifth round |
3 | B3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fifth round
The two second-placed teams in each group from the fourth round will play against each other over two legs in November 2025 to determine which team advances to the inter-confederation play-offs.[3]
Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
---|---|---|---|---|
– | Nov '25 | Nov '25 | ||
Inter-confederation play-offs
The fifth-round winner will join one team each from CAF, CONMEBOL, and OFC and two from CONCACAF in the inter-confederation play-offs. The teams will be ranked according to the 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.[9]
Goalscorers
There have been 51 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.55 goals per match (as of 17 October 2023). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Farshad Noor
Jabar Sharza
Foysal Ahmed Fahim
Rakib Hossain
Md Saad Uddin
Lobzang Chogyal
Chencho Gyeltshen
Ange Kouamé
Chen Ting-yang
Ko Yu-ting
Wu Yen-shu
Yu Chia-huang
Jason Cunliffe
Shinichi Chan
Egy Maulana Vikri
Witan Sulaeman
Bounphachan Bounkong
Niki Torrão
Aisam Ibrahim
Hassan Nazeem
Aung Kaung Mann
Nay Moe Naing
Soe Moe Kyaw
Anjan Bista
Manish Dangi
Harun Hamid
Shawal Anuar
Jacob Mahler
Christopher van Huizen
Charitha Rathnayake
Nasser Al-Gahwashi
Ahmed Maher
1 own goal
Tenzin Norbu (against Hong Kong)
See also
Notes
- Listed on the AFC website as Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1, as these are also qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
- Listed on the AFC website as Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2, as these are also qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
- Listed on the AFC website as AFC Asian Qualifiers
- Listed on the AFC website as Asian Playoff
References
- "Unanimous decision expands FIFA World Cup to 48 teams from 2026". FIFA. 10 January 2017. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017.
- "Seedings revealed for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers draw". the-AFC. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- "FIFA Men's Ranking – July 2023". FIFA. 20 July 2023.
- "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.
- "AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2024 – Jul 2025)" (PDF). AFC. 7 April 2023.
- "AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2025 – Jul 2026)" (PDF). AFC. 7 April 2023.
- "Stage set for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers draw". AFC. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- "Bureau of the Council recommends slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
External links
- Official FIFA World Cup website
- FIFA.com
- FIFA World Cup – the-AFC.com