Asian qualification for the World Cup 2026 will be a difficult road that calls for several group stages at the very least — eight teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will advance straight to the 2026 World Cup, while the ninth team will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs in an attempt to qualify for the competition.
In 2026, the only continents with more teams participating are Africa and Europe.
Heung-min Son (Spurs, South Korea), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton, Japan), and Saman Ghoddos (Brentford, Iran) are three current Premier League players whose chances of making the World Cup will fluctuate over the next three years, despite the fact that they all play for teams who are favourites to advance.
The format, standings, and finally the tables are listed here as several countries compete to win the World Cup.
First round (20 teams, home-and-away) (October 11–17, 2023)
Second round: nine groups of 36 teams; the top two from each group progress (November 2023–June 2024).
The World Cup will be played in the third round, which starts in September 2024, with 18 teams divided into three groups. The third and fourth-place teams will play in the fourth round.
Fourth round (starting in October 2025): two groups of six teams, with the champions of each group moving on to the World Cup and the second-place teams to the fifth round.
November 2025, the fifth round: two teams; the victor advances to the inter-confederation playoffs
Afghanistan 1-0 Mongolia
Maldives 1-1 Bangladesh
Singapore 2-1 Guam
Yemen 3-0 Sri Lanka
Myanmar 5-1 Macau
Cambodia 0-0 Pakistan
Chinese Taipei 4-0 Timor-Leste
Indonesia 6-0 Brunei
Hong Kong 4-0 Bhutan
Nepal 1-1 Laos
Mongolia 0-1 (0-2 agg) Afghanistan
Bangladesh 2-1 (3-2 agg) Maldives
Guam 0-1 (1-3 agg) Singapore
Sri Lanka 1-1 (1-4 agg) Yemen
Macau 0-0 (1-5 agg) Myanmar
Pakistan 1-0 (1-0 agg) Cambodia
Timor-Leste 0-3 (0-7 agg) Chinese Taipei
Brunei 0-6 (0-12 agg) Indonesia
Bhutan 2-0 (2-4 agg) Hong Kong
Laos 0-1 (1-2 agg) Nepal
Australia vs Bangladesh — 4am ET
Japan vs Myanmar — 5:02 am ET
South Korea vs Singapore — 6am ET
Philippines vs Vietnam — 6am ET
Thailand vs China — 7:30am ET
Malaysia vs Kyrgyzstan — 8am ET
Tajikistan vs Jordan — 8am ET
Turkmenistan vs Uzbekistan — 9am ET
Lebanon vs Palestine — 9am ET
Iran vs Hong Kong — 9:30am ET
Iraq vs Indonesia — 9:45am ET
Oman vs Chinese Taipei — 10am ET
UAE vs Nepal — 10:45 am ET
Qatar vs Afghanistan — 10:45am ET
Saudi Arabia vs Pakistan — 11:30am ET
Kuwait vs India — 11:30am ET
Syria vs North Korea — Noon ET
Yemen vs Bahrain — 1pm ET
Pakistan vs Tajikistan — 4am ET
Myanmar vs North Korea — 4:30am ET
Philippines vs Indonesia — 6am ET
Chinese Taipei vs Malaysia — 6am ET
Bangladesh vs Lebanon — 6:45am ET
Singapore vs Thailand — 7am ET
Vietnam vs Iraq — 7am ET
China vs South Korea — 7am ET
Hong Kong vs Turkmenistan — 7am ET
Uzbekistan vs Iran — 8am ET
Nepal vs Yemen — 8:15am ET
India vs Qatar — 8:30am ET
Palestine vs Australia — 9am ET
Kyrgyzstan vs Oman — 9am ET
Syria vs Japan — 9:45am ET
Bahrain vs UAE — 10:45am ET
Jordan vs Saudi Arabia — 11am ET
Afghanistan vs Kuwait — Noon ET
Asian (AFC) 2026 World
Qatar
India
Kuwait
Afghanistan
Japan
Syria
North Korea
Myanmar
South Korea
China
Thailand
Singapore
Oman
Kyrgyzstan
Malaysia
Chinese Taipei
Iran
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
Hong Kong
Iraq
Vietnam
Philippines
Indonesia
Saudi Arabia
Jordan
Tajikistan
Pakistan
United Arab Emirates
Bahrain
Yemen or Sri Lanka
Nepal
Australia
Palestine
Lebanon
Bangladesh
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