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{{Short description|none}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

factoids

| num_teams = 46| confederations = 1| matches = {{#expr: 20 + 71 }}| goals = {{#expr: 51 + 230 }}| attendance = {{#expr: 138247 + 1372016 }}QAT}} Almoez Ali(7 goals)2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)>20222030 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)>2030| updated = 26 March 2024}}{{Qualification for championships (AFC)}}The Asian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for national teams of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). AFC teams have been allocated eight direct qualifying slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot.NEWS, 10 January 2017, Unanimous decision expands FIFA World Cup to 48 teams from 2026, FIFA,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170110231324weblink">weblink dead, 10 January 2017, The qualification process involves five rounds; the first two also serving as qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

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, would have entered through the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification play-off round. However, the AFC excluded Northern Mariana Islands from the draw for the play-off round.WEB,weblink Six teams to contest Qualifiers Playoff for Saudi Arabia 2027, AFC, 2 May 2024, 6 May 2024,

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:WEB, Seedings revealed for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers draw,weblink 27 July 2023, the-AFC, en,

• 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) 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 2027 AFC Asian Cup. The remaining teams qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification third round.
• Third round: 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: 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: 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.WEB, AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions,weblink Asian Football Confederation, 1 July 2023, 1 July 2023,

Draw

The draw for the first and second rounds of joint qualification took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 July 2023.WEB, 5 July 2023, Stage set for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers draw,weblink 5 July 2023, AFC, 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. 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.{| class="wikitable"FIFA World RankingsHTTPS://WWW.FIFA.COM/FIFA-WORLD-RANKING/MEN?DATEID=ID14079, FIFA Men's Ranking – July 2023, FIFA, 20 July 2023, ! colspan="3"|Bye to second round! colspan="2"|Competing in first round! style="width:20%" | Pot 1! style="width:20%" | Pot 2! style="width:20%" | Pot 3! style="width:20%" | Pot 1! style="width:20%" | Pot 2 style="vertical-align:top"|{hide}ordered list }}start=10 }}start=19 }}start=27 }}start=37 }}

Schedule

The competition schedule is expected to be as follows:WEB,weblink AFC, AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2023 – Jul 2024), PDF, 7 April 2023, 12 April 2023, 22 May 2023,weblink dead, WEB,weblink AFC, AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2024 – Jul 2025), PDF, 7 April 2023, 12 April 2023, 18 April 2023,weblink dead, WEB, AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2025 – Jul 2026),weblink AFC, PDF, 7 April 2023, 12 April 2023, 18 April 2023,weblink dead, {|{| class="wikitable"!Round!Matchday!DateFirst round|First leg|12 October 2023|Second leg|17 October 2023Second 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{| class="wikitable"!Round!Matchday!DateThird round|Matchday 1|5 September 2024|Matchday 2|10 September 2024|Matchday 3|10 October 2024|Matchday 4|15 October 2024|Matchday 5|14 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{| class="wikitable"!Round!Matchday!DatesFourth round|Matchday 1 October 2025|Matchday 2|Matchday 3Fifth round|First leg November 2025|Second leg

First round

{{#lst:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round#Summary}}

Second round

Group A

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group A}}

Group B

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group B}}

Group C

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group C}}

Group D

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group D}}

Group E

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group E}}

Group F

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group F}}

Group G

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group G}}

Group H

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group H}}

Group I

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|transcludesection=Group I}}

Third round

Group A

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round|transcludesection=Group A}}

Group B

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round|transcludesection=Group B}}

Group C

{{:2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round|transcludesection=Group C}}

Fourth round

Group A

{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=WDL2026 FIFA World Cup qualification#Tiebreakers>Tiebreakers|name_A1=A1|name_A2=A2|name_A3=A3start_date=October 2025draw_A1=0 gf_A1=0 |ga_A1=0draw_A2=0 gf_A2=0 |ga_A2=0draw_A3=0 gf_A3=0 |ga_A3=0|team_order=A1, A2, A3|res_col_header=Qresult2=PO text_KO=2026 FIFA World Cuptext_PO=Fifth round}}

Group B

{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=WDL2026 FIFA World Cup qualification#Tiebreakers>Tiebreakers|name_B1=B1|name_B2=B2|name_B3=B3start_date=October 2025draw_B1=0 gf_B1=0 |ga_B1=0draw_B2=0 gf_B2=0 |ga_B2=0draw_B3=0 gf_B3=0 |ga_B3=0|team_order=B1, B2, B3|res_col_header=Qresult2=PO text_Q=2026 FIFA World Cuptext_PO=Fifth round}}

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.{{TwoLegStart}}{{TwoLegResult | || – | || {{small|Nov '25}} | {{small|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 {{nowrap|single-elimination}} matches. The winners will meet the two highest-ranked teams in another set of {{nowrap|single-elimination}} matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.WEB, 30 March 2017, Bureau of the Council recommends slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,weblink live,weblink 19 June 2022, 22 May 2023, FIFA,

Top goalscorers

{{#invoke:Goalscorers|main|2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)|bold=yes|minimum=3}}Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:{hide}flatlist|

• First round
• Second round

{edih}

See also

• 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• {{Official websiteweblink|Official FIFA World Cup website}}
• FIFA.com
• FIFA World Cup – the-AFC.com

{{2026 FIFA World Cup qualification}}