As the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 ended the qualification for the 2026 FIFA world cup will soon be commenced. The 2026 edition will having a record 48 participating teams across six continents. Increasing the slots FIFA is trying to have more long & competitive tournament at Global stage.
For the final 48 slots the 211 FIFA countries across six continental zones will be playing the qualification matches in the period 2023 – 2025.
These are the six FIFA Zones and the number of World Cup tickets that can be earned by the respective nations as per their zone:
- UEFA (Europe) | 16
- CAF (Africa) | 9
- AFC (Asia) | 8
- CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean) | 6
- CONMEBOL (South America) | 6
- OFC (Oceania) | 1
- Plus 2 more qualifying nations
The final phase of qualification is a mini-tournament in which the other two nations compete to advance. Entry is permitted for six nations: two each from the CONCACAF and CAF zones, one each from the AFC and CONMEBOL, and one each from the OFC.
Since Asian slots has been increased from 5.5 to 8 1⁄3 (8 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot ) which will increase the chances for South Asian teams like India, Bangladesh & Nepal. A total of 47 Asian teams will compete against each other in 5 rounds as according to their AFC rankings ahead of the qualifications.
Here we will be discussing on the qualifying scenario for the Asian teams through AFC Qualification.
- FIRST ROUND | 22 teams (ranked 26-47) will play home & away over two legs i.e. two teams will face each other twice. Only the 11 winners will advance to the second round.
- SECOND ROUND | 36 teams ( ranked 1-25 in AFC + 11 winners from first round ) will be divided into 9 groups (with 4 teams each) will play home & away round robin matches. The total of eighteen i.e. 9 group winners and 9 group runners-up will advance to the third round.
- THIRD ROUND | 18 teams that advance from the second round are divided into 3 groups (with 6 teams each ) will play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top 2 teams of each group qualify for the World Cup, while the 6 teams that finish third-placed and fourth-placed teams of each group advance to the fourth round.
- FOURTH ROUND | 6 teams that advance from the third round are divided into two groups (with 3 teams each ) will play a single round-robin. The all 3 group winners qualify for the World Cup.
- FIFTH ROUND | 2 teams the group runners-up from the fourth round will compete in a play-off tie to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation play-offs.
Here Nepal (175) alongside with Bangladesh (192), Maldives (154), Pakistan (194), Bhutan (185) & Srilanka (207) ranked (26-47 in AFC) will play the first round with the weaker teams. Meanwhile India (106) will play from the second round where they will face the winners from the first round.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is expected to be as follows, according to the FIFA International Match Calendar.
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