All eyes will be on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday, July 27, 2023 for 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™.
As many as 45 Member Associations (MAs) are expected to discover their road to the 23rd FIFA World Cup, to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. This is the third time that the first two rounds of Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup will also serve as the Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup™.
As there will be 48 teams – a first – at the FIFA World Cup 2026, the AFC has made some changes to the qualification format as there will be eight and a half slots on offer for the Continent’s national teams. It means that the 18 lowest-ranked MAs out of the 45 – according to the next FIFA Ranking release on July 20 and subject to the number of entries submitted to FIFA – will begin their qualifying journey in Round 1.
These 18 teams will be divided into nine pairings, with each pair to play one home and one away match on October 12 and 17, 2023 respectively.
The nine winners of Round 1 proceed to Round 2, where they are joined by the remaining 27 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 AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™.
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. The other two direct AFC entrants will be determined in the fourth round of World Cup qualifying, with one more possible berth available via an Intercontinental Playoff.
The other 18 teams from Round 2 will proceed directly to the third and final round of AFC Asian Cup™ qualifying.
