On August 1, two major soccer organizations unveiled the 2026
World Cup
A new format and schedule for the Asian qualifiers. With the 2026
World Cup
With the expansion to 48 teams, Asia will have an exclusive share of 8.5 seats, eight of which will go through to the main round, with another spot to be contested through a play-off.
Despite doubling the number of direct qualification places, a change that Asian football associations are generally optimistic about, they are also facing tougher competition. Originally, strong teams such as Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Australia had the advantage, but with more chances to qualify, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also eager to try, and the competition is on the verge of breaking out.
For the 11th-ranked national soccer team in Asia, the rate of decline of the national team is more worrisome, despite the fact that it could theoretically benefit from the expansion as well. Securing a place in the third stage of the 18-team tournament has become a pressing issue.
FIFA and AFC on 2026
World Cup
The format of the Asian qualifiers has been adjusted to retain the basic framework of the past two qualifiers. The draw is based on the latest FIFA rankings, and the first stage consists of a knockout match between the 26-47th-ranked FIFA teams, with the winners advancing to the second stage.
In the second stage, the 40-team tournament will become a 36-team tournament, with the 11 advancing teams joining the top 25 Asian ranked teams to form 36 teams in 9 groups. A double round-robin system will be used, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Round of 18. In the third stage, the 18-team tournament will be the same as the 12-team tournament, except that the teams will be expanded from 6 teams from each of the 2 groups to 6 teams from each of the 3 groups.
The fourth stage of the Asian play-offs also saw a major change in the format, with the third and fourth place finishers of the 18-team tournament, totaling six teams, competing for the final two spots. The first team from each group advances directly, while the two second-place finishers play a knockout round to determine the 9th Asian team for the Intercontinental Play-Offs.
AFC also announced the 2027
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
The qualifying schedule sees the teams that qualify for the 18-team Asian World Cup qualifying tournament advance automatically, with the remaining six spots being created through a three-phase competition.
From the perspective of the entire qualifying tournament system adjustment, the World Cup out of the Asian region doubled the number of places, the theoretical difficulty of entering the third stage of the 18 rounds of the tournament is reduced. For the national football team ranked outside the Asian ten, this change is undoubtedly good news.
Theoretically, the 40 strong match into 36 strong match, 8 groups into 9 groups of the tournament system, for the current ranking of the Asian ten outside the national football team, naturally, is a great advantage. On the one hand, Asia's first class team dispersed in more groups, reducing the possibility of encountering the "group of death"; on the other hand, the top two can be out of the line, reducing the team's requirements to get points.
18 strong stage, the strength of the first group in Asia, Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Canada 6 strong to get the top 2 in each group directly out of the line should not be in doubt, while the second group of teams are more concerned about how to get the qualification for the play-offs. The schedule and opponents of the play-offs will have a significant impact on the final result.
Nonetheless, the slumping national football team is hardly guaranteed to win the 8.5 exit spots in the favorable format. Facing other teams in the second group, the national soccer team has no certainty of victory, and even had draws against the Philippines and India.
Therefore, it is imperative for the national football team to make full use of the opportunity to practice for next year's Asian Cup, find a suitable head coach, and strive to enter the top 18. This threshold is no longer easy for the national football team whose strength is declining in the future.
