AFC World Cup 2026 Qualifiers Teams, Format, & Schedule

The AFC World Cup 2026 qualifiers will begin on Thursday, 5th September, as 18 teams battle for the eight qualification spots. 

The final stage of qualification will reach its climax in June 2025, but several teams will be able to cement their spots in the North American edition of the World Cup much earlier.

The AFC Asian Qualifiers determine which Asian teams will participate in the mighty FIFA World Cup. 

World Cup 2026 AFC Qualifiers format

The qualification process is divided into several rounds, with lower-ranked teams starting in earlier stages and the higher-ranked teams entering in later rounds.

The final round of qualification typically consists of two groups of six teams, with the top teams directly qualifying for the World Cup, and the second-placed sides will face each other in a playoff for a spot in the intercontinental playoffs for the remaining World Cup berths.

For efficiency, the early stages of the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup are often combined. Teams first play in these joint qualifiers, with the top teams advancing to both the later stages of World Cup qualification and earning a spot in the Asian Cup.

Following the second round of preliminary knockout matches, the group stages of the AFC qualifiers have now been formed by the 18 remaining teams from the region.

The 18 remaining Asian teams have been divided into three groups of six, who will face each other home and away. The top two teams will automatically qualify for the World Cup.

AFC World Cup 2026 Qualifiers teams 

18 teams will take part in the FIFA World Cup 2026 AFC qualifiers. 

Here’s an overview of all the teams and groups:

Group A:

Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyz Republic, DPR Korea

Group B:

South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait

Group C:

Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia

World Cup 2026 AFC Qualifiers schedule

Following is the AFC World Cup 2026 qualifiers third round schedule: 

Matchday 1: 

DATE	MATCH	TIME (PST)
5 Sep	Uzbekistan vs DPR Korea	6:05 PM
5 Sep	Qatar vs United Arab Emirates	8:05 PM
5 Sep	Islamic Republic of Iran vs Kyrgyz Republic	7:10 PM
5 Sep	Korea Republic vs Palestine	3:05 PM
5 Sep	Iraq vs Oman	8:05 PM
5 Sep	Jordan vs Kuwait	10:05 PM
5 Sep	Australia vs Bahrain	2:15 PM
5 Sep	Japan vs China PR	2:40 PM
5 Sep	Saudi Arabia vs Indonesia	10:05 PM

Matchday 2: 

DATE	MATCH	TIME (PST)
10 Sep	DPR Korea vs Qatar	4:05 PM
10 Sep	Kyrgyz Republic vs Uzbekistan	6:05 PM
10 Sep	United Arab Emirates vs Islamic Republic of Iran	8:05 PM
10 Sep	Palestine vs Jordan	TBC
10 Sep	Oman vs Korea Republic	6:05 PM
10 Sep	Kuwait vs Iraq	10:05 PM
10 Sep	Indonesia vs Australia	3:10 PM
10 Sep	China PR vs Saudi Arabia	4:05 PM
10 Sep	Bahrain vs Japan	8:05 PM