Alkass Digital
Doha, Qatar: With the release of the latest FIFA Ranking last Thursday, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed the seedings for all the Member Associations (MAs) that will be involved in the official draw ceremonies of the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 and Round 2 of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027.
A total of 46 MAs will get a clearer idea of their qualification pathways during the Round 1 and Round 2 draws, which will take place at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today.
This is the third time that the first two rounds of Qualifiers for the World Cup will also serve as the Qualifiers for the Asian Cup.
As there will be 48 teams – a first – at the FIFA World Cup 2026, some changes have been made by the AFC to the qualification format, with there being eight and a half slots on offer for the Continent’s national teams. It means that the 20 lowest-ranked MAs will begin their road to the 23rd FIFA World Cup, to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, in Round 1.
The 10 winners of Round 1 proceed to Round 2, where they are joined by the remaining 26 teams. These 36 sides will be drawn into nine groups of four, competing against each team in a home-and-away round-robin format, between November 2023 and June 2024.
All nine group winners and the respective runners-up will advance to the third round of World Cup qualifying, and at the same time seal their places at the 2027 Asian Cup.
The draw for the third round of the global showpiece in 2026 will be conducted in 2024, where the 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six; the top two from each group will qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
FULL LIST OF SEEDINGS AND POTS
Round 1
Pot 1 (ranked 27-36): Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Maldives, Yemen, Afghanistan, Singapore, Myanmar, Nepal, Cambodia
Pot 2 (37-46): Macau, Mongolia, Bhutan, Laos, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Timor-Leste, Pakistan, Guam, Sri Lanka
Round 2
Pot 1 (1-9): Japan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Australia, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Oman
Pot 2 (10-18): Uzbekistan, China PR, Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Vietnam, Palestine, Kyrgyz Republic, India
Pot 3 (19-26): Lebanon, Tajikistan, Thailand, DPR Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Kuwait, Turkmenistan
Pot 4: 10 winning teams from Round 1