Asia’s hopefuls for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will discover their opponents for the next stage of qualification at the FIFA World Cup 26™ Preliminary Draw – AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road To 26 on Thursday, June 27 at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Grand Ballroom, in Malaysia.

The 18-strong cast that will contest the third qualifying round was confirmed after the conclusion of the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ on June 12, which saw five teams seal their places on the final matchday. In addition, the 18 teams have also secured qualification for the AFC Asian Cup Saudia Arabia 2027™.

Scheduled to be played from September 2024 to June 2025, the AFC Asian Qualifiers™ – Road to 26 will feature three groups of six teams and offer direct qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2026 for the top two finishers of each group. These teams will fill six of the eight available slots for the AFC, with two more on offer via the AFC Asian Qualifiers™ – Road to 26 Playoff and an additional opportunity to be contested at an Intercontinental Playoff.

Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic and Palestine are the three teams that are set to make their debut, having reached the third qualifying round for the first time under the current joint qualification format, which was implemented for the FIFA World Cup 2018 and AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019™.

The 18 teams have been seeded into six pots for the draw according to the latest FIFA rankings as of June 20:

Pot 1: Japan (17), Islamic Republic of Iran (20), Korea Republic (22)
Pot 2: Australia (23), Qatar (35), Iraq (55)
Pot 3: Saudi Arabia (56), Uzbekistan (62), Jordan (68)
Pot 4; United Arab Emirates (69), Oman (76), Bahrain (81)
Pot 5: China PR (88), Palestine (95), Kyrgyz Republic (101)
Pot 6: DPR Korea (110), Indonesia (134), Kuwait (137)
*FIFA rankings in brackets

The third and fourth-placed teams from each group – six in total – will progress to the AFC Asian Qualifiers™ – Road to 26 Playoff, to be contested in two groups of three teams in a single round robin format, with both group winners qualifying for the 23rd FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The two second-placed finishers will face off in a home and away tie to earn the right to reach the Intercontinental Playoff and play for the final available berth.

Meanwhile, the other 18 teams from Round 2 will join the three best-ranked losing teams from Round 1 – Bhutan, Laos, Maldives – and the three winners from the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ Qualifiers Playoff to play the final round of qualifying – starting in March 2025 – for the 19th edition of Asia’s showpiece, where the six remaining berths will be claimed.