2026 World Cup - Asian qualifiers

[amenina]

Second round final matchday results

https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/asi ... ports.html







Third round qualifiers

https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/asi ... lised.html

[amenina]

It would be better to use R2 ranking to seed the R3 draw.

Given the difference of strength of the groups (e.g., Group G is quite strong while Group H is quite weak), I don't think this would be a good idea.

And the seeding according to the FIFA rankings does seem to offer a quite good reflection of the relative strength of the teams, at least in the first four pots, with Iraq in Pot 2 instead of Saudi Arabia (only group runner-up in first 3 pots), and Jordan in Pot 3 instead of UAE (only group winner not in first 3 pots).

[Firnen]

Saudi Arabia lost pot 2 with the defeat against Jordan, who jumps ahead of UAE and into pot 3.

Pot 1:
Japan
Iran
Korea Republic

Pot 2:
Australia
Qatar
Iraq

Pot 3:
Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan
Jordan

Pot 4:
UAE
Oman
Bahrain

Pot 5:
China
Palestine
Kyrgyzstan

Pot 6:
Korea DPR
Indonesia
Kuwait

As long as the draw doesn't place Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the same Group, it's very likely we will see Iraq, Uzbekistan or Jordan in the World Cup.

[Lorric]

So even in this format we could get another Japan/Australia/Saudi Arabia group. You could repeat last cycle's group with Oman and China. Vietnam didn't make it despite it being easier to do so this time.

[amenina]

Second round final standings

[Lorric]

Saudi Arabia lost pot 2 with the defeat against Jordan, who jumps ahead of UAE and into pot 3.

Pot 1:
Japan
Iran
Korea Republic

Pot 2:
Australia
Qatar
Iraq

Pot 3:
Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan
Jordan

Pot 4:
UAE
Oman
Bahrain

Pot 5:
China
Palestine
Kyrgyzstan

Pot 6:
Korea DPR
Indonesia
Kuwait

The draw is on the 27th, and then Asia, CONMEBOL and OFC will have the stage to themselves for the rest of the year as CONCACAF is off for the Nations League for an entire year, UEFA will be playing Nations League too and Africa switches to AFCON qualifying before returning in March.

FIFA Rankings are always used, but just for fun, if it was group stage record, with number of pots moved shown:

Pot 1:
Japan
Australia +1
Iraq +1

Pot 2:
South Korea -1
Qatar
UAE +2

Pot 3:
Iran -2
Jordan
Oman +1

Pot 4:
Uzbekistan -1
Saudi Arabia -1
Bahrain

Pot 5:
Kyrgyzstan
Indonesia +1
Korea DPR +1

Pot 6:
China -1
Palestine -1
Kuwait

Life: Iraq, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Indonesia, Kuwait
Death: Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, China

[Firnen]

Indonesia nationalized everyone and their mother to build a decent national team, almost all their starters are Dutch with ancestry from Indonesia now.

This explains the sudden improvement lately.

[mspm89]

Indonesia nationalized everyone and their mother to build a decent national team, almost all their starters are Dutch with ancestry from Indonesia now.

This explains the sudden improvement lately.

Well, ethnically speaking, this team must be fairly close to that of 1938 then.

[Ed]

Indonesia nationalized everyone and their mother to build a decent national team, almost all their starters are Dutch with ancestry from Indonesia now.

This explains the sudden improvement lately.

Yeah, it turns out average Eredivisie players can boost performances from such NT's. Same's happening in other teams/countries with a Dutch link: Suriname and Curacao and (to a lesser extent) Bonaire and Aruba.

[dopeisland]

Saudi Arabia lost pot 2 with the defeat against Jordan, who jumps ahead of UAE and into pot 3.

Pot 1:
Japan
Iran
Korea Republic

Pot 2:
Australia
Qatar
Iraq

Pot 3:
Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan
Jordan

Pot 4:
UAE
Oman
Bahrain

Pot 5:
China
Palestine
Kyrgyzstan

Pot 6:
Korea DPR
Indonesia
Kuwait

The draw is on the 27th, and then Asia, CONMEBOL and OFC will have the stage to themselves for the rest of the year as CONCACAF is off for the Nations League for an entire year, UEFA will be playing Nations League too and Africa switches to AFCON qualifying before returning in March.

FIFA Rankings are always used, but just for fun, if it was group stage record, with number of pots moved shown:

Pot 1:
Japan
Australia +1
Iraq +1

Pot 2:
South Korea -1
Qatar
UAE +2

Pot 3:
Iran -2
Jordan
Oman +1

Pot 4:
Uzbekistan -1
Saudi Arabia -1
Bahrain

Pot 5:
Kyrgyzstan
Indonesia +1
Korea DPR +1

Pot 6:
China -1
Palestine -1
Kuwait

Life: Iraq, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Indonesia, Kuwait
Death: Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, China

Definitely have the odds of a George W. Bush All-Star group of: Iran, UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, China

[Lorric]

Saudi Arabia lost pot 2 with the defeat against Jordan, who jumps ahead of UAE and into pot 3.

Pot 1:
Japan
Iran
Korea Republic

Pot 2:
Australia
Qatar
Iraq

Pot 3:
Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan
Jordan

Pot 4:
UAE
Oman
Bahrain

Pot 5:
China
Palestine
Kyrgyzstan

Pot 6:
Korea DPR
Indonesia
Kuwait

The draw is on the 27th, and then Asia, CONMEBOL and OFC will have the stage to themselves for the rest of the year as CONCACAF is off for the Nations League for an entire year, UEFA will be playing Nations League too and Africa switches to AFCON qualifying before returning in March.

FIFA Rankings are always used, but just for fun, if it was group stage record, with number of pots moved shown:

Pot 1:
Japan
Australia +1
Iraq +1

Pot 2:
South Korea -1
Qatar
UAE +2

Pot 3:
Iran -2
Jordan
Oman +1

Pot 4:
Uzbekistan -1
Saudi Arabia -1
Bahrain

Pot 5:
Kyrgyzstan
Indonesia +1
Korea DPR +1

Pot 6:
China -1
Palestine -1
Kuwait

Life: Iraq, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Indonesia, Kuwait
Death: Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, China

Definitely have the odds of a George W. Bush All-Star group of: Iran, UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, China

You can get that in real life as well as based on group performance.

[Michele]

Are we never going to talk about Qatar's equalizer against India?

https://www.daily-mail.co.uk/sport/footb ... cored.html

To me, it looks like the ball is far enough across the line to be completely out. But I haven't seen an angle that can definitively settle the matter. And unfortunately VAR isn't used at this stage, so no help there.

I'm not implying anything shady, but it's very unfortunate for India to miss out partly based on such a questionable decision.

[Shing]

Feel bad for the eliminated teams' World Cup journey end so early. The qualifying format could be modified to make it more interesting.

- After this round, the 18 qualified teams are in League A and all other teams are in League B
- League A still play 3 hex. Top 2 in each group (6 teams) directly qualify. 3rd and 4th placed teams in each group (6 teams) advance to PO
- League B has 7 or 8 groups of 3 or 4 teams. The best ranked 8 teams advance to play 2 round knockout. The 2 winners advance to PO
- PO has 8 teams (6 from League A and 2 from League B). Play 2 round knockout and the 2 winners qualify

[Lorric]

Are we never going to talk about Qatar's equalizer against India?

https://www.daily-mail.co.uk/sport/foot ... cored.html

To me, it looks like the ball is far enough across the line to be completely out. But I haven't seen an angle that can definitively settle the matter. And unfortunately VAR isn't used at this stage, so no help there.

I'm not implying anything shady, but it's very unfortunate for India to miss out partly based on such a questionable decision.

I saw it from the back live, it didn't look fully out.

Even if it was out, I'd be more annoyed if it was my team that they didn't play to the damn whistle. You put your fate in the hands of the referee instead of your own. That was very much stoppable. Just standing there with their hands in the air letting it happen. Pathetic.

Meanwhile, China fans send money to the Singapore goalkeeper as a thank you:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... mm0v31ve0o

[Lorric]

Feel bad for the eliminated teams' World Cup journey end so early. The qualifying format could be modified to make it more interesting.

- After this round, the 18 qualified teams are in League A and all other teams are in League B
- League A still play 3 hex. Top 2 in each group (6 teams) directly qualify. 3rd and 4th placed teams in each group (6 teams) advance to PO
- League B has 7 or 8 groups of 3 or 4 teams. The best ranked 8 teams advance to play 2 round knockout. The 2 winners advance to PO
- PO has 8 teams (6 from League A and 2 from League B). Play 2 round knockout and the 2 winners qualify

Most of the teams go on to Asian Cup qualifying, so they're not left twiddling their thumbs.