Qatar and Saudi Arabia to host AFC 2026 World Cup playoffs
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.
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