The AFC has announced that the schedule for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers and 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers has been finalized in four segments:
First, in the first round of the Combined Qualifiers, 22 teams ranked 26th to 47th in Asia will face off in a home-and-away double round-robin, with the 11 winners advancing to the next round.
The second round of the Combined Qualifiers will then bring together 36 teams, including Asia's top 25 and first round qualifiers, who will be divided into nine groups for a home-and-away round-robin tournament. The top two teams from each group (18 in total) will win tickets to the World Cup and Asian Cup.
The Asian qualifiers for the World Cup will then welcome 18 elite teams, which will be divided into three groups for a home-and-away round-robin tournament. The top two teams from each group (six in total) will advance directly to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final round.
Instead, the Asian play-offs for the World Cup will select the third and fourth place finishers from the three groups (six in total), which will play a single round-robin tournament. The group winners go through to the World Cup final round, while the two group seconds will play a play-off, with the winners representing Asia in the World Cup Intercontinental Play-offs for a place in the main round.
After the completion of the two phases of the joint qualifying tournament, the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying tournament will also begin in parallel:
The 10 teams eliminated in the first stage of the joint qualifying tournament will play home-and-away matches, with five of the winners advancing to the final stage of Asian Cup qualifying.
In the final stage of Asian Cup qualifying, 24 teams will vie for the top spot in six groups (four teams per group), with the winners of those six groups qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup.
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