Qatar and Saudi Arabia to host AFC 2026 World Cup playoffs
Qatar and Saudi Arabia will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have confirmed.
Six teams, the third and fourth-placed sides from the recent Asian third round of qualifying, will be divided into two groups of three teams.
They will battle each other in a centralised format from October 8 to 14, 2025, the AFC said in a statement on Friday.
The group winners will secure the two remaining automatic berths at the World Cup.
The runners-up from each group will play two matches on November 13 and 18, with the winners qualifying for the inter-confederation playoffs, through which they could win a spot at the World Cup.
The draw for the next, and final, round of qualifying in Asia is scheduled for July 17.
The venues for each of the matches will be confirmed thereafter.
The third round of qualifying constituted three groups of six, with the top two teams from each group automatically qualifying for the World Cup, filling six of the AFC's eight slots at the 2026 edition of world football's showpiece event.
The third- and fourth-placed teams from each group progressed to the final round of the AFC qualifiers, hoping to win one of the rapidly dwindling spots at the World Cup finals.
The bottom two teams from each of those groups were eliminated – Palestine being the last side to see their hopes of progressing ended when they were defeated by a late penalty for Oman, who claimed fourth spot in Group B as a result.
It was the furthest Palestine had reached in their attempts to qualify for a World Cup.
Japan were the first team to secure their place at the tournament, which is to be hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico, when they swept through Group C. Australia, in the same group, claimed their place in second spot with a final day win against Saudi Arabia, who could have leapt above the Socceroos with a win.
Jordan and Uzbekistan both finished second in their groups, behind South Korea and Iraq respectively, sealing their first appearances at at World Cup.
Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the six teams still in with a chance of reaching the World Cup finals.
AFC Asian Cup champions, and hosts of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar endured a mixed campaign to finish fourth in Group A, with UAE claiming third.
Indonesia, hoping for only a second appearance at the World Cup finals, secured the fourth spot in Group C, seeing off a late charge from China, who missed out on qualification for the next stage alongside Bahrain. Saudi Arabia finished third in that group.
Iraq and Oman finished third and fourth, respectively, in Group B.
The next edition of the Asian Cup will be played in 2027. Saudi Arabia, which will also host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, has been named the host nation.
The first round of AFC qualifying for the tournament began in October 2023, and saw 20 teams (ranked 27 to 46) playing home and away playoffs, with the 10 winners progressing.
The second round saw the teams ranked 1-26 join the qualification process, with the 36 teams split into nine groups. The round was played across 2023 and 2024.
The winners and runners-up of the nine groups progressed not only to the 2027 Asian Cup, but also to the AFC World Cup qualifying groups.
A third round of qualifiers is currently in progress to find out who will line up at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, alongside the 18 teams that have just completed the AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Qatar and Saudi Arabia to host AFC 2026 World Cup playoffs
Qatar and Saudi Arabia will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have confirmed. Six teams, the third and fourth-placed sides from the recent Asian third round of qualifying, will be divided into two groups of three teams. They will battle each other in a centralised format from October 8 to 14, 2025, the AFC said in a statement on Friday. The group winners will secure the two remaining automatic berths at the World Cup. The runners-up from each group will play two matches on November 13 and 18, with the winners qualifying for the inter-confederation playoffs, through which they could win a spot at the World Cup. The draw for the next, and final, round of qualifying in Asia is scheduled for July 17. The venues for each of the matches will be confirmed thereafter. The third round of qualifying constituted three groups of six, with the top two teams from each group automatically qualifying for the World Cup, filling six of the AFC's eight slots at the 2026 edition of world football's showpiece event. The third- and fourth-placed teams from each group progressed to the final round of the AFC qualifiers, hoping to win one of the rapidly dwindling spots at the World Cup finals. The bottom two teams from each of those groups were eliminated – Palestine being the last side to see their hopes of progressing ended when they were defeated by a late penalty for Oman, who claimed fourth spot in Group B as a result. It was the furthest Palestine had reached in their attempts to qualify for a World Cup. Japan were the first team to secure their place at the tournament, which is to be hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico, when they swept through Group C. Australia, in the same group, claimed their place in second spot with a final day win against Saudi Arabia, who could have leapt above the Socceroos with a win. Jordan and Uzbekistan both finished second in their groups, behind South Korea and Iraq respectively, sealing their first appearances at at World Cup. Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the six teams still in with a chance of reaching the World Cup finals. AFC Asian Cup champions, and hosts of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar endured a mixed campaign to finish fourth in Group A, with UAE claiming third. Indonesia, hoping for only a second appearance at the World Cup finals, secured the fourth spot in Group C, seeing off a late charge from China, who missed out on qualification for the next stage alongside Bahrain. Saudi Arabia finished third in that group. Iraq and Oman finished third and fourth, respectively, in Group B. The next edition of the Asian Cup will be played in 2027. Saudi Arabia, which will also host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, has been named the host nation. The first round of AFC qualifying for the tournament began in October 2023, and saw 20 teams (ranked 27 to 46) playing home and away playoffs, with the 10 winners progressing. The second round saw the teams ranked 1-26 join the qualification process, with the 36 teams split into nine groups. The round was played across 2023 and 2024. The winners and runners-up of the nine groups progressed not only to the 2027 Asian Cup, but also to the AFC World Cup qualifying groups. A third round of qualifiers is currently in progress to find out who will line up at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, alongside the 18 teams that have just completed the AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Referee body cams, keeper timeouts, AI: What's new at the Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup has undergone a revamp since it was last competed in December 2023 in Saudi Arabia. The number of participating clubs has increased fourfold to 32, the frequency of the competition has gone from annual to quadrennial and the champion's prize money – previously $5m – has gone up by a whopping $35m. It's not just the numbers that have changed in the tournament. FIFA is also looking to introduce new technology, including artificial intelligence to help the referees, and it is getting stricter on goalkeepers who waste time while holding the ball. Here's a look at the three big changes to be implemented at the monthlong tournament, which will get under way on Saturday in the United States: Small cameras, protruding from the referees' ears, will capture the live action unfolding in front of them. The video will be fed to the ongoing match broadcast and will be aired to the viewers but only if the action is not controversial. So any penalty appeals, disputed calls and other potentially game-changing moments of controversy will be cut out. However, fans will be offered unique views of goals, saves, crosses, player runs and tackles. The feature will only be available in the six NFL stadiums being used during the tournament – Atlanta, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Miami, East Rutherford, Philadelphia and Seattle. 'The objective is to offer the TV viewers a new experience,' Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, said while announcing the move on Wednesday. He said the technology will be trialled during the tournament and offer football's rule-making body a chance to review it, along with footage of controversial moments, for long-term implementation. Collina asked for patience from the fans during this phase and suggested taking things 'step by step'. 'At the moment, this is a trial. We need to do something new and the simpler the better. So we fixed some rules within a protocol. Will we offer these images in the future? Maybe when we learn to run, maybe not, maybe we will do.' Referee body camera in action. We can expect to see more of this at @FIFACWC ⚽️ Footage from Botafogo vs. Pachuca in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024™ where body cameras were trialled. #TakeItToTheWorld | #FIFACWC | #FootballUnitesTheWorld — FIFA Media (@fifamedia) June 6, 2025While the assistance of technology in making offside decisions is not new, the Club World Cup will use it slightly differently by employing AI for an 'enhanced semiautomatic offside'. Video feed from 16 cameras will provide footage of the ongoing action to an AI-based programme, which will then alert match officials as soon as an offside player touches the ball. Officials hope this new mechanism will help curtail the time in decision-making. The system will likely see the flag raised earlier for offside and reduce cases of play continuing after a clear offside, as opposed to a later video assistant referee (VAR) review. In another first, footage of VAR-based offside reviews will be shown to the spectators inside the stadiums on big screens. It's not entirely new, but time-wasting goalkeepers will also face the heat much earlier than usual as FIFA has asked referees to clamp down on glovemen who take too long on the ball. The rules stipulate that keepers can't hold onto the ball for longer than six seconds, but they have not been punished as frequently as the game's governing body would have liked. Now referees will issue a warning at five seconds – counted down by the officials on their hands – and the keeper must release the ball before a total of eight seconds are up. Failing to do so will result in a corner kick for the opposition as opposed to an indirect free kick, which was previously given.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Brazil in, Palestine out: Who has qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Five-time champions Brazil have confirmed their participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup by defeating Paraguay 1-0, thanks to a goal by star forward Vinicius Jr in front of a jubilant home crowd in Sao Paulo. Playing under new head coach Carlo Ancelotti, the Selecao went ahead at the stroke of half-time when the Real Madrid star found the net, much to the delight of the 46,000 fans at the Corinthians Arena on Tuesday. In other major World Cup qualifying results, war-torn Palestine were left heartbroken when Oman drew level against them from a penalty converted deep into stoppage time in their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifying match in Amman, Jordan. Palestine have been playing their international fixtures at neutral venues, including Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. Israel's war on Gaza, its control and destruction of sports facilities and venues in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have left the players unable to travel and play at their home venue, the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium in ar-Ram, a town northeast of occupied Jerusalem. Needing a win to reach the fourth round of the AFC qualifiers, Palestine led the home side through Oday Kharoub's goal at the end of the first half. The Al-Fidai seemed to have done enough until they conceded a penalty in the last moments of the match, and Essam al-Subhi's spot kick in the 97th minute ended the game in a draw, crushing the Palestinian dream of having another shot at qualification by proceeding to the fourth round. Oman have now taken up that spot. After the latest round of qualifying matches, here is a breakdown of the confirmed contenders from each of the six regions: Africa: None of the 54 nations involved in the qualifiers has been able to confirm their spots as the first round of qualifying matches does not conclude until October 16. Asia: Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Japan. Europe: None. Similar to Africa, none of the 54 European teams vying for 16 qualification spots have confirmed their berths as their first-round matches will run until November 18. North, Central American and Caribbean region: Canada, Mexico and USA. With the World Cup host nations taking three spots, only three are left up for grabs and will be decided on November 18. Oceania: New Zealand. With one spot up for grabs and 11 nations fighting for it, New Zealand emerged victorious and took the spot by winning the third-round playoff final against New Caledonia on March 24. South America: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador. Chile, third-place finishers in 1962, are among the biggest names confirmed out of the next World Cup. While China are not considered among the football powerhouses in Asia, the nation's focus on building the game at home and seeing its team in another World Cup since 2002 was crushed on June 5. Apart from the nine African and 16 European spots still fully up for grabs, the others that are still in the race for a World Cup spot are: Asia: Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iraq, and Oman are vying for the two direct qualification slots for the World Cup and one intercontinental playoffs spot. South America: Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia will fight for the three remaining World Cup slots, while Peru can only advance to the intercontinental playoffs. North, Central American and Caribbean region: Honduras, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Haiti, Panama, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Guatemala, Suriname and El Salvador have all advanced to the third round, from where three teams will directly qualify for the World Cup. The three second-placed teams from each group will then fight for the intercontinental playoffs spot. Oceania: New Caledonia have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs. As late as March 31, 2026. With the European qualification rounds stretching to March and the intercontinental playoff final also scheduled for the same month, we will not know our final 48 teams for the World Cup until less than three months ahead of the tournament. The tournament begins in Mexico City on June 11 and ends with the final in New Jersey on July 19.
