When naturalized players were activated, the national soccer team missed the Qatar World Cup tournament and began preparations for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers ahead of schedule. According to the new FIFA rules, there will be 48 teams in the 2026 World Cup, 16 more than in Qatar. Apparently, FIFA intends to allow more average teams to participate in the tournament to increase the impact and commercial effectiveness of the World Cup.
The increase in the number of World Cup teams to 48 has been very beneficial to both national and Asian soccer. With Asian soccer getting 8.5 seats under the rules, the national soccer team and most of the average Asian teams see some hope of advancing. In terms of strength and form, as well as historical achievements, the five Asian seats are pretty much booked - Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran. All five teams are in the first tier of strength and are regulars in the World Cup. The Asian quota was increased to 8.5, and their advancement is even less suspenseful and basically stable.
The AFC officially announced the confirmation of the tournament process and the draw in the last two days. The AFC officially confirmed that the draws for the first and second rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers will take place on July 27, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The draws will be held at the AFC headquarters (in Kuala Lumpur). Forty-five member associations are expected to embark on the World Cup qualifying tournament.
As Asia will get 8.5 seats, the AFC has adjusted the competition schedule for the World Qualifiers and the Asian zone will continue to be divided into three phases. The first stage consists of the 18 teams at the bottom of the Asian rankings, with the 18 teams divided into nine groups. Each group completes home and away matches on October 12 and 17, 2023, with the winners advancing to the next stage (round of 36). In the second stage, the nine teams that advanced from the first stage join the top 27 Asian ranked teams in the tournament, which is divided into nine group matches of four teams each, with the top two teams in the standings advancing to the third stage (Top 18).
In the third stage, the 18 teams are divided into three groups of six teams each. The top two teams in each group advance directly to the World Cup, with the final qualifiers determining the other two and the intercontinental play-offs determining the other 0.5. The format of the tournament is generally confirmed, with only the details of the tournament to be announced in the final stage.
According to the current strength and status, the situation of the national soccer team in the preliminaries is still serious. Currently, the national soccer team is ranked 79th in the world and 11th in Asia, and will enter the second gear. Before the draw ceremony, FIFA will announce the brand new national team ranking on July 20th. Considering that the national soccer team does not have too many important warm-up matches, the ranking will not change much.
As second place, the national soccer team will debut in the second stage of the preliminaries, kicking off from the round of 36. If they play properly, they will enter the Top 18. After entering the Top 18, it will still take a miracle for the national soccer team to advance to the tournament. Due to the aging of the team's naturalized international players and the overall low level of local internationals, it will be difficult to shake Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran, which is equivalent to competing with the other Top 12 for 3.5 spots. The national soccer team's loss to Vietnam in the last world qualifying tournament proved that it was anyone's guess as to who would make it to the Top 18, with Qatar, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Syria, Ateneo, Riobarat, Riobarat
Next, the national football team should first play well in the Asian Cup and accumulate confidence. The current national football team needs a match win too much. If they regain their confidence and keep the naturalized international players in good shape, the probability of the national football team to get out in the preliminaries will be much higher. I hope Jankovic can lead the team to keep improving.
