Agencies-Gaza post
Asian Confederation adopts seats of its teams in 2026 World Cup
The Asian Football Confederation adopted the qualifying system for the 2026 World Cup, through which eight teams qualify directly for the scheduled finals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
“The Executive Office of the Asian Football Confederation certified the Asian qualifying system for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers,” the Confederation said in a statement Monday. The Asian continent has eight direct seats at the 2026 World Cup and a continental play-off seat after the 2026 World Cup was expanded to 48 members.”
The new qualification system had been adopted after consultations with member national federations and a summary had been submitted to the competitions committee.
The Asian continent will be the 2022 World Cup, forming in November, with five eligible teams out of 32 participants, namely Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Australia, as well as host Qatar.
The qualifiers will be in four stages as follows:
– First round of joint qualifiers:
Includes 22 voters between 26th and 47th in the world rankings, where they meet through two round-trip matches. The 11 winners qualify for the second round of the joint qualifiers.
– Second round of joint qualifications:
It includes 36 candidates between 1 and 25 in the world rankings, along with 11 first-round winners. They are divided into 9 groups of four teams competing in the league system from the round-trip stages. The champions and runners-up of each group (18) advance to the final round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, and those teams also receive qualification cards for the 2027 Asian Cup.
– Asian qualifiers:
The 18 teams are divided into three groups of six teams competing in the league system from the back and forth stages. The champion and runner-up of each group (6) qualifies directly for the 2026 World Cup.
– Asian Supplement: The Asian Supplement includes the third and fourth places in the three groups of the previous round (6) and is divided into two groups of three teams competing in the league system from one stage.
