The finishing line is in sight for 18 of the Asian teams as they prepare to resume their qualifying journey for the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
Scheduled to run until June 2025, the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to 26 features three groups of six teams and guarantees qualification to the 23rd FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the top two finishers of each group. Two more berths are available via the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to 26 Playoff, with an additional opportunity up for grabs at an InterContinental Playoff.
Having emerged from the second qualifying round that concluded in June, the 18-strong cast will now turn their attention to claiming one of the six slots on offer in this third round.
Three sides have reached this stage for the first time since the current format, which starting in 2015 combines qualification for both the AFC Asian Cup and FIFA World Cup in the first two rounds: Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Palestine. Along with four other teams, namely Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Uzbekistan, they will aim to secure a FIFA World Cup appearance for the first time. Meanwhile, all of AFC’s six representatives at the most recent edition in Qatar in 2022 – Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia – are in contention to make an immediate return.
A taste of their first ever World Cup in the last edition will have whetted Qatar’s appetite for more and the reigning Asian champions, who retained the crown in February after first winning it in 2019, head into their Group A opener off the back of a 13-match unbeaten streak (11 wins) in competitive internationals.
Their opponents at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan are the United Arab Emirates, whose sole qualification for the World Cup was in 1990. They will be looking for their first victory against Qatar since 2015 in what will be the 34th international meeting between the duo, which will kick off at 7pm.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan have the opportunity now to banish the ghosts of 2014 qualifying where they missed out on a direct berth on goal difference. The White Wolves’ Group A journey begins at 7pm at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, where they will entertain North Korea in search of an eighth win in 11 international meetings. The Chollima, on the other hand, are seeking to add a third World Cup outing to their 1966 and 2010 participations.
Since June 2013, Iran have won 16 of 19 World Cup qualifiers on home soil and will aim to extend the Continent’s current longest unbeaten home run when they square off against the Kyrgyzstan at 7:30pm in the second fixture of Group A.
Team Melli are targeting a fourth consecutive World Cup appearance and seventh overall, while the White Falcons have reached the third qualifying round at the fifth time of asking. The visitors are seeking a first ever international win against Iran, with all four previous meetings ending in defeat, when they travel to the Foolad Shahr Stadium in Fuladshahr for this match.
The very first match of this round takes place Down Under as Australia welcome Bahrain to the Robina Stadium to kick off Group C at 8:10pm. Set to play in the Gold Coast for the first time, the Socceroos are targeting a sixth consecutive qualification. They cruised through Round 2 with a perfect record, scoring 22 goals and conceding none, and will hope to seal a seventh World Cup appearance in a more straightforward fashion having taken the long route via the Intercontinental Playoffs for the last two editions.
On the contrary, the Bahrainis have twice fallen at the Playoff stage (2006, 2010) and will be eyeing their first international win against Australia, having lost all previous six meetings.
The only other team to progress from the previous round without conceding once, Japan are next to take to the pitch in Group C with a home fixture against China at the Saitama Stadium 2002. The 2002 World Cup co-hosts are aiming for an eighth qualification – which would be in consecutive fashion – and are unbeaten in their last 13 qualifiers, winning 12 of those.
The visitors, whose sole appearance at the global showpiece was in 2002, came through the second round via a superior goal difference at the expense of Thailand. They will meet the Samurai Blue for the 40th time, with their last win against the four-time Asian Cup champions dating back to March 1998 – 16 matches ago – and kick-off is at 7:35pm local time.
Having appeared at the last two editions, Saudi Arabia are aiming to make it three on the trot and seven qualifications overall as they begin their Group C campaign at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah at 9pm against Indonesia. The Green Falcons have won 12 of 15 encounters to date, with the other three ending as draws.
The only Southeast Asian side still left standing, Indonesia are also the sole team from the first round to have made it this far. The Garuda have already chalked up five wins, their most ever in a single qualifying campaign, and are dreaming of a World Cup debut – their participation in 1938, as the Dutch East Indies, was pre-independence.
With 11 World Cup involvements to date, South Korea are unmatched in Asia and will be expected to extend their streak. The Taeguk Warriors, who last suffered a home defeat in qualifying in 2013, will face Palestine for the first time in Seoul at 8pm for their Group B opener.
Four appearances in the second round were the furthest that the away side had ever progressed prior to this edition and the Lions of Canaan, who enjoyed a breakthrough Asian Cup Qatar 2023 with their first ever win and Knockout Stage qualification, are hoping to make more history.
The second Group B fixture takes place at the Basra International Stadium, where Iraq will continue their hunt for a second World Cup qualification since their 1986 debut. The Lions of Mesopotamia emerged from the second-round with a perfect record – the first time they had won six qualifying matches in a row since 1993 – and will welcome Oman at 7pm for a 30th international meeting. Each of their last five meetings have ended in draws; the visitors have never won in Iraq, losing on six out of seven previous occasions.
Targeting a historic World Cup qualification, Jordan go head to head with Kuwait in the third Group B tie at 9pm at the Amman International Stadium. Buoyed by a stunning run to their first Asian Cup final at Qatar 2023, the home side will aim to erase the hurt of falling at the Intercontinental Playoff hurdle in 2014 as they face the Kuwaitis for a 29th time. The latter, whose sole World Cup appearance came in 1982, will have to beat Jordan for the first time since 2014 if they are to make a winning start.