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Asian (AFC) 2026 World Cup qualifying schedule, results, table

NBC Sports
·5 min read

Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup will be a long journey, a gauntlet that will require — at a minimum — multiple group stages.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will put eight teams directly into the 2026 World Cup, with a ninth team going to the inter-confederation playoffs in hopes of making the tournament.

[ MORE: How will 48-team 2026 World Cup work? ]

Only Africa and Europe will put more teams in the 2026 World Cup.

Current Premier League players Heung-min Son (Spurs, South Korea), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton, Japan), and Saman Ghoddos (Brentford, Iran) are among those who will see their World Cup hopes rise and fall over the next three years — though all play on nations favored to qualify for the tournament.

Below you'll find the format, scores, and — eventually — tables, as dozens of nations bid to turn their World Cup dreams into reality.

Asian (AFC) 2026 World Cup qualification format

  • First round (Oct. 11-17, 2023): 20 teams, home-and-away

  • Second round (Nov. 2023 - June 2024): 36 teams, nine groups, top two from each group advance

  • Third round (begins Sept. 2024): 18 teams, three groups, top two from each group qualify for World Cup, third- and fourth-place teams to fourth round

  • Fourth round (begins Oct. 2025): Six teams, two groups, group winners qualify for World Cup, second-place teams to fifth round

  • Fifth round (November 2025): Two teams, winner goes to inter-confederation playoffs

Asian (AFC) World Cup qualification schedule — First round fixtures, results

October 11

Afghanistan 1-0 Mongolia
Maldives 1-1 Bangladesh
Singapore 2-1 Guam
Yemen 3-0 Sri Lanka
Myanmar 5-1 Macau
Cambodia 0-0 Pakistan
Chinese Taipei 4-0 Timor-Leste
Indonesia 6-0 Brunei
Hong Kong 4-0 Bhutan
Nepal 1-1 Laos

October 17

Mongolia 0-1 (0-2 agg) Afghanistan
Bangladesh 2-1 (3-2 agg) Maldives
Guam 0-1 (1-3 agg) Singapore
Sri Lanka 1-1 (1-4 agg) Yemen
Macau 0-0 (1-5 agg) Myanmar
Pakistan 1-0 (1-0 agg) Cambodia
Timor-Leste 0-3 (0-7 agg) Chinese Taipei
Brunei 0-6 (0-12 agg) Indonesia
Bhutan 2-0 (2-4 agg) Hong Kong
Laos 0-1 (1-2 agg) Nepal

Asian (AFC) 2026 World Cup qualification schedule — Second round fixtures

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Pakistan vs Jordan — 5am ET
Australia vs Lebanon — 5:10am ET
Chinese Taipei vs Kyrgyzstan — 6am ET
Japan vs North Korea — 6:23am ET
South Korea vs Thailand — 7am ET
Myanmar vs Syria — 7:30am ET
Hong Kong vs Uzbekistan — 8am ET
Singapore vs China — 8:30am ET
Indonesia vs Vietnam — 9:30am ET
Iran vs Turkmenistan — Noon ET
Oman vs Malaysia — 2pm ET
UAE vs Yemen — 2pm ET
Qatar vs Kuwait — 2:30pm ET
Bangladesh vs Palestine — 2:30pm ET
Iraq vs Philippines — 3pm ET
Nepal vs Bahrain — 3pm ET
Saudi Arabia vs Tajikistan — 3pm ET
Afghanistan vs India — 3pm ET

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

North Korea vs Japan — 4am ET
Lebanon vs Australia — 4:45am ET
Bangladesh vs Palestine - 5:30am ET
Philippines vs Iraq — 7am ET
China vs Singapore — 8am ET
Vietnam vs Indonesia — 8am ET
Thailand vs South Korea — 8:30am ET
India vs Afghanistan — 9:30am ET
Kyrgyzstan vs Chinese Taipei — 10am ET
Malaysia vs Oman — 10am ET
Uzbekistan vs Hong Kong — 10:30am ET
Turkmenistan vs Iran — 11am ET
Tajikistan vs Saudi Arabia — 11am ET
Palestine vs Bangladesh
Yemen vs UAE — 3pm ET
Bahrain vs Nepal — 3pm ET
Kuwait vs Qatar — 3pm ET
Syria vs Myanmar — 3pm ET
Jordan vs Tajikistan — 3pm ET

Asian (AFC) 2026 World Cup qualification schedule — Second round results

November 16

Australia 7-0 Bangladesh
Japan 5-0 Myanmar
South Korea 5-0 Singapore
Philippines 0-2 Vietnam
Thailand 1-2 China
Malaysia 4-3 Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan 1-1 Jordan
Turkmenistan 1-3 Uzbekistan
Lebanon 0-0 Palestine
Iran 4-0 Hong Kong
Iraq 5-1 Indonesia
Oman 3-0 Chinese Taipei
UAE 4-0 Nepal
Qatar 8-1 Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia 4-0 Pakistan
Kuwait 0-1 India
Syria 1-0 North Korea
Yemen 0-2 Bahrain

November 21

Pakistan 1-6 Tajikistan
Myanmar 1-6 North Korea
Philippines 1-1 Indonesia
Chinese Taipei 0-1 Malaysia
Bangladesh 1-1 Lebanon
Singapore 1-3 Thailand
Vietnam 0-1 Iraq
China 0-3 South Korea
Hong Kong 2-2 Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan 2-2 Iran
Nepal 0-2 Yemen
India 0-3 Qatar
Palestine 0-1 Australia
Kyrgyzstan 1-0 Oman
Syria 0-5 Japan
Bahrain 0-2 UAE
Jordan 0-2 Saudi Arabia
Afghanistan 0-4 Kuwait

Asian (AFC) 2026 World Cup qualification tables — Second round groups

Group A

  1. Qatar — 2-0-0 — +10 GD — 6 points

  2. India — 1-0-1 — -2 GD — 3 points

  3. Kuwait — 0-0-1 — -1 GD — 0 points

  4. Afghanistan — 0-0-1 — -7 GD — 0 points

Group B

  1. Japan — 2-0-0 — +10 GD — 6 points

  2. North Korea — 1-0-1 — +4 GD — 3 points

  3. Syria — 1-0-1 — -4 GD — 3 points

  4. Myanmar — 0-0-2 — -10 GD — 0 points

Group C

  1. South Korea — 2-0-0 — +8 GD — 6 points

  2. Thailand — 1-0-1 — +2 GD — 3 points

  3. China— 1-0-1 — -2 GD — 3 points

  4. Singapore — 0-0-2 — -7 GD — 0 points

Group D

  1. Malaysia — 2-0-0 — +2 GD — 6 points

  2. Oman — 1-0-1 — +2 GD — 3 points

  3. Kyrgyzstan — 1-0-1 — 0 GD — 3 points

  4. Chinese Taipei — 0-0-2 — -4 GD — 0 points

Group E

  1. Iran — 1-1-0 — +4 GD — 4 points

  2. Uzbekistan — 1-1-0 — +2 GD — 4 points

  3. Turkmenistan — 0-1-1 — -2 GD — 1 point

  4. Hong Kong — 0-1-1 — -4 GD — 1 point

Group F

  1. Iraq — 2-0-0 — +5 GD — 6 points

  2. Vietnam — 1-0-1 — +1 GD — 3 points

  3. Philippines — 0-1-1 — -2 GD — 1 point

  4. Indonesia — 0-1-1 — -4 GD — 1 point

Group G

  1. Saudi Arabia — 2-0-0 — +5 GD — 6 points

  2. Tajikistan — 1-1-0 — +5 GD — 4 points

  3. Jordan — 0-1-1 — -2 GD — 1 point

  4. Pakistan — 0-0-2 — -9 GD — 0 points

Group H

  1. United Arab Emirates — 2-0-0 — +5 GD — 6 points

  2. Bahrain — 1-0-1 — +3 GD — 3 points

  3. Yemen — 1-0-1 — 0 GD — 3 points

  4. Nepal — 0-0-2 — -6 GD — 0 points

Group I

  1. Australia — 2-0-0 — +8 GD — 6 points

  2. Lebanon — 0-2-0 — 0 GD — 2 points

  3. Palestine — 0-1-1 — -1 GD — 1 point

  4. Bangladesh — 0-1-1 — -7 GD — 1 point