The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has officially announced the system for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region, which is not much different from what was reported by the domestic media. The original 12-team tournament has been changed to an 18-team tournament, which means that the competition is more intense. Although the number of places in the Asian zone has increased to 8.5, however, for the Chinese men's soccer team, the road to the World Cup is still full of difficulties and challenges.
According to the rules of the tournament given on the official website of the AFC, a total of 45 teams from Asia will take part in the tournament, which is divided into four stages. In the first stage, the 18 teams at the bottom of the world rankings are drawn for two rounds of home and away matches. The winning nine teams enter the second stage, joining the top 27 teams in the Asian world rankings in the top 36 competition, which is divided into nine groups of four teams each. After the home and away matches, the top two teams in the group advance to the third stage.
The third stage is the most crucial of the tournament, meaning that the top 12 have become the top 18.The 18 teams are divided into three groups of six teams each. After the home and away matches, the top two teams in the group advance directly to the 2026 World Cup. At this stage, the six teams ranked third and fourth in the group advance to the fourth stage. The six teams were divided into two groups of three teams each for a single cycle duel. The top team in the group advances directly to the 2026 World Cup. The two second-place teams played a play-off to determine the winner. The winning team represented Asia in the intercontinental play-offs for the World Cup.
There is no doubt that despite the fact that the 2026 World Cup has been expanded to include 8.5 places for the Asian region, the pressure to compete is even greater for each participating team! In particular, the Chinese men's soccer team is eager to participate in the World Cup, even though there are 8.5 places, but to obtain the final participation ticket is under great pressure, especially in the second stage of the 36-team tournament, there are nine groups with four teams in each group, in order to get the top two teams in the group, every game can not be wrong.
The Chinese men's soccer team can still count on the best second place in the group in the past Top 40 matches. Now the top 36 are the top two in the group. Can the Chinese men's soccer team catch it? If you get into the top 18 and face stronger Asian teams, I'm afraid it's going to be bad if the Chinese men's soccer team wants to finish in the top two of the group.
The only good news is that there are more ways to advance to the World Cup, in the past 12 matches there was only one channel for the Intercontinental Play-Offs. Now that the 18-team tournament is over, there is a fourth stage of matches for the 3rd and 4th places in the group, competing for the remaining 2 direct places before we get to the Intercontinental Play-Off stage, which means that China's men's soccer team has increased the number of avenues to the World Cup, and it's up to them to seize them.
For the Chinese men's soccer team, reaching the World Cup is still exceptionally difficult, despite the increase in program avenues. Given the current state of the Chinese men's soccer team, the primary goal is to fight for a place in the 18-team tournament. Considering the existing local players, without the support of naturalized players, it will still be difficult for the Chinese men's football team to achieve their World Cup dream.
