2026 World Cup - Asian qualifiers

[Tazmania]

Pakistan 1-6 Tajikistan FT

Myanmar currently losing 0-6 to North Korea.

These types of games don't help Asian football.

This just goes to show how blinded you are with your NL for qualifying idea. Myanmar- North Korea is a likely matchup in a NL format. North Korea is a league B team and Myanmar is likely to be a yo-yo league B/C team. Such a matchup (similar quality teams) will happen every time in a NL league format.

Pakistan is a “league C” team that actually advanced to this round, this means that they might very well have been promoted from league C under your system and would have played Tajikistan (or a similar quality team) in qualifying under your NL format as well (not as often as the other matchup, but not rarely either)

Yes, but those games would be minimised.

On MD2 only 8 games out of 18 ended in draws or wins by a single goal, which is far below the UNL average.

[Sagy]

Pakistan 1-6 Tajikistan FT

Myanmar currently losing 0-6 to North Korea.

These types of games don't help Asian football.

This just goes to show how blinded you are with your NL for qualifying idea. Myanmar- North Korea is a likely matchup in a NL format. North Korea is a league B team and Myanmar is likely to be a yo-yo league B/C team. Such a matchup (similar quality teams) will happen every time in a NL league format.

Pakistan is a “league C” team that actually advanced to this round, this means that they might very well have been promoted from league C under your system and would have played Tajikistan (or a similar quality team) in qualifying under your NL format as well (not as often as the other matchup, but not rarely either)

Yes, but those games would be minimised.

On MD2 only 8 games out of 18 ended in draws or wins by a single goal, which is far below the UNL average.

No, these games will not be minimized. You will still have them every time.

You will always have teams like Tajikistan or North Korea in league B and there are always going to be teams like Myanmar and even Pakistan in league B (every time 4 league C teams will be promoted).

[mspm89]

Full time: Afghanistan 0-4 Kuwait

I suppose we can debate these lopsided scores, but there really is a sharp drop of quality after the top 30 in Asia.

Lopsided? I may be wrong, but I think the last two editions of Asian qualifiers, both using this format, had a few double-digit beatings. None have happened so far this time and heck, UEFA just had one. Incredible.

[amenina]

Full time: Afghanistan 0-4 Kuwait

I suppose we can debate these lopsided scores, but there really is a sharp drop of quality after the top 30 in Asia.

Lopsided? I may be wrong, but I think the last two editions of Asian qualifiers, both using this format, had a few double-digit beatings. None have happened so far this time and heck, UEFA just had one. Incredible.

There were slightly more teams in 2022 WCQ 2nd round, with 40 (8 groups of 5), compared to 2026 WCQ 2nd round with 36 (9 groups of 4). As I said, teams outside the Asian top 30, once you go into 35-40 range, are pretty bad.

Also last time the second half of that round was held during COVID with a match every 3 days or so, so naturally many teams are out of form and have no stamina to compete against the top teams. Those matches were also played in a specified country (usually the highest-seeded team) without home advantage for the weaker teams.

[amenina]

Matchday 2 results

Report: https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/asi ... rts_2.html







Standings after matchday 2



















Matchdays 3 and 4 will be played in March 2024.
Matchday 3: 1 vs 3, 4 vs 2
Matchday 4: 3 vs 1, 2 vs 4

[amenina]

It has been confirmed by the AFC that DPR Korea will host Japan on 26 March at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang. This will be the first visit by the Japan men’s team since 2011 (also a WCQ match), and the second month in a row that a team from Japan will visit the country, as the Japan women’s team will also play an Olympics qualifier there in February.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/202401 ... 31000.html

[EarlofBug]

It will be a surprise if the final won't be Australia - Japan (though South Korea can nake it happen).

[amenina]

It will be a surprise if the final won't be Australia - Japan (though South Korea can nake it happen).

First of all, wrong thread. The Asian Cup thread is here: https://kassiesa.net/uefa/forum2/viewto ... &start=630

Second of all, If Japan continue to play like they did in the group stage, even if they get through Bahrain in the round of 16, no way they can beat possibly Iran in the quarter-finals, or Qatar in the semi-finals.

[amenina]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapores-na ... 18632.html

The Singapore national football team will have a third straight Japanese head coach, after former Tokyo Verdy assistant coach Tsutomu Ogura took up the hot seat on a two-year contract on Thursday (1 February).

The 57-year-old was unveiled by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) as the director of national teams at Jalan Besar Stadium, three days after previous head coach Takayuki Nishigaya was sacked after producing results that were below FAS' expectation. Besides leading men's senior team, Ogura will also oversee the performances of the national Under-23/22 team and their coach.

[amenina]

https://www.muscatdaily.com/2024/02/01/ ... all-coach/

The Oman Football Association (OFA) announced on Thursday the appointment of Czech coach Jaroslav Šilhavý as the new head coach of the Oman national football team.

Šilhavý, aged 62, takes over from Croatian Branko Ivankovic, who was dismissed by the OFA following the team’s underwhelming performance at the recent AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.

[amenina]

Branko Ivankovic has been appointed as head coach of the China PR men's national team, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said on Saturday.

https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/asi ... eam_2.html

Marquez Lopez will continue as Qatar national team head coach until 2026.

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

[amenina]

https://twitter.com/theKFA/status/1762381494247645231

[ #NOTICE ] KFA appointed current Olympic team coach Hwang Seon-hong as interim coach to lead the Korean national soccer team in the two-game World Cup qualifier against Thailand in March.
In addition, we plan to appoint an official coach by early May at the latest to prepare for the second qualifying round of the World Cup in June.

[amenina]

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/sports/ ... ach/story/

Tom Saintfiet is new Philippine men’s football coach

He will replace Michael Weiss, who was appointed as head coach last June 2023.

Saintfiet, 50 years old, will bring in years of coaching national teams, with the most recent being Gambia as he handled the team from 2018-2024. He also previously held the national teams of Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, Togo, Malawi, Yemen, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

He also steered the Gambia national team to back-to-back appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021, where they finished sixth, and in 2023.

[Jackson Harrison]

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/sports/ ... ach/story/

Tom Saintfiet is new Philippine men’s football coach

He will replace Michael Weiss, who was appointed as head coach last June 2023.

Saintfiet, 50 years old, will bring in years of coaching national teams, with the most recent being Gambia as he handled the team from 2018-2024. He also previously held the national teams of Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, Togo, Malawi, Yemen, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

He also steered the Gambia national team to back-to-back appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021, where they finished sixth, and in 2023.

Did The Gambia fire him after AFCON?

[amenina]

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/sports/ ... ach/story/

Tom Saintfiet is new Philippine men’s football coach

He will replace Michael Weiss, who was appointed as head coach last June 2023.

Saintfiet, 50 years old, will bring in years of coaching national teams, with the most recent being Gambia as he handled the team from 2018-2024. He also previously held the national teams of Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, Togo, Malawi, Yemen, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

He also steered the Gambia national team to back-to-back appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021, where they finished sixth, and in 2023.

Did The Gambia fire him after AFCON?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/68074217

Tom Saintfiet resigned as coach of The Gambia after the Scorpions suffered a group-stage exit from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.