Qatar and Saudi Arabia will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have confirmed.Six teams, the third and fourth-placed sides from the recent Asian third round of qualifying, will be divided into two groups of three teams.
They will battle each other in a centralised format from October 8 to 14, 2025, the AFC said in a statement on Friday.
The group winners will secure the two remaining automatic berths at the World Cup.
The runners-up from each group will play two matches on November 13 and 18, with the winners qualifying for the inter-confederation playoffs, through which they could win a spot at the World Cup.
When is the draw for the fourth round of AFC World Cup qualifying?
The draw for the next, and final, round of qualifying in Asia is scheduled for July 17.
The venues for each of the matches will be confirmed thereafter.
The view of a giant AFC Asian Cup trophy displayed inside Lusail stadium before the last final between Qatar and Jordan [Rula Rouhana/Reuters]
What happened in the last round of AFC World Cup qualifiers?
The third round of qualifying constituted three groups of six, with the top two teams from each group automatically qualifying for the World Cup, filling six of the AFC’s eight slots at the 2026 edition of world football’s showpiece event. Advertisement
The third- and fourth-placed teams from each group progressed to the final round of the AFC qualifiers, hoping to win one of the rapidly dwindling spots at the World Cup finals.
The bottom two teams from each of those groups were eliminated – Palestine being the last side to see their hopes of progressing ended w …
