27/07/2023
Asia World Cup qualifying preliminary rounds draw set to take place
As many as 45 nations are expected to discover their road to the 23rd FIFA World Cup.
Official draw ceremony of the preliminary rounds of Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 to take place on 27 July
Due to expanded World Cup format there are changes to the qualification pathway with at least eight nations from the region set to qualify
Third round draw will be held in 2024
Asia's road to the biggest FIFA World Cup™ in history starts here.
The official draw ceremony for the preliminary qualification rounds 1 and 2 of the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ will take place on Thursday 27 July at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
As many as 45 Member Associations (MAs) from the region are set to discover their initial steps on road to the 23rd FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
New qualification format
As there will be 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup for the first time, the AFC has updated 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 FIFA Ranking released on 20 July 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 12 October and 17 October 2023. The nine winners of round 1 will advance to round 2, where they will be 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.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, with the top two from each group will qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup 2026.