Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup will be a long journey, a gauntlet that will require — at a minimum — multiple group stages.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will put eight teams directly into the 2026 World Cup, with a ninth team going to the inter-confederation playoffs in hopes of making the tournament.
[ MORE: How will 48-team 2026 World Cup work? ]
Only Africa and Europe will put more teams in the 2026 World Cup.
Current Premier League players Heung-min Son (Spurs, South Korea), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton, Japan), and Saman Ghoddos (Brentford, Iran) are among those who will see their World Cup hopes rise and fall over the next three years — though all play on nations favored to qualify for the tournament.
Below you’ll find the format, scores, and — eventually — tables, as dozens of nations bid to turn their World Cup dreams into reality.
June 6, 2024
Hong Kong vs Iran
Jordan vs Tajikistan
Chinese Taipei vs Oman
Afghanistan vs Qatar
Palestine vs Lebanon
Bahrain vs Yemen
Uzbekistan vs Turkmenistan
Pakistan vs Saudi Arabia
Kyrgyzstan vs Malaysia
Indonesia vs Iraq
Vietnam vs Philippines
Singapore vs South Korea
Bangladesh vs Australia
Myanmar vs Japan
India vs Kuwait
Nepal vs UAE
China vs Thailand
North Korea vs Syria
June 11, 2024
Iran vs Uzbekistan
Saudi Arabia vs Jordan
North Korea vs Myanmar
Turkmenistan vs Hong Kong
Yemen vs Nepal
Oman vs Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan vs Pakistan
Australia vs Palestine
UAE vs Bahrain
Thailand vs Singapore
Qatar vs India
Lebanon vs Bangladesh
Malaysia vs Chinese Taipei
Indonesia vs Philippines
Japan vs Syria
Iraq vs Vietnam
South Korea vs China
Kuwait vs Afghanistan
Afghanistan 1-0 Mongolia
Maldives 1-1 Bangladesh
Singapore 2-1 Guam
Yemen 3-0 Sri Lanka
Myanmar 5-1 Macau
Cambodia 0-0 Pakistan
Chinese Taipei 4-0 Timor-Leste
Indonesia 6-0 Brunei
Hong Kong 4-0 Bhutan
Nepal 1-1 Laos
Mongolia 0-1 (0-2 agg) Afghanistan
Bangladesh 2-1 (3-2 agg) Maldives
Guam 0-1 (1-3 agg) Singapore
Sri Lanka 1-1 (1-4 agg) Yemen
Macau 0-0 (1-5 agg) Myanmar
Pakistan 1-0 (1-0 agg) Cambodia
Timor-Leste 0-3 (0-7 agg) Chinese Taipei
Brunei 0-6 (0-12 agg) Indonesia
Bhutan 2-0 (2-4 agg) Hong Kong
Laos 0-1 (1-2 agg) Nepal
November 16
Australia 7-0 Bangladesh
Japan 5-0 Myanmar
South Korea 5-0 Singapore
Philippines 0-2 Vietnam
Thailand 1-2 China
Malaysia 4-3 Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan 1-1 Jordan
Turkmenistan 1-3 Uzbekistan
Lebanon 0-0 Palestine
Iran 4-0 Hong Kong
Iraq 5-1 Indonesia
Oman 3-0 Chinese Taipei
UAE 4-0 Nepal
Qatar 8-1 Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia 4-0 Pakistan
Kuwait 0-1 India
Syria 1-0 North Korea
Yemen 0-2 Bahrain
November 21
Pakistan 1-6 Tajikistan
Myanmar 1-6 North Korea
Philippines 1-1 Indonesia
Chinese Taipei 0-1 Malaysia
Bangladesh 1-1 Lebanon
Singapore 1-3 Thailand
Vietnam 0-1 Iraq
China 0-3 South Korea
Hong Kong 2-2 Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan 2-2 Iran
Nepal 0-2 Yemen
India 0-3 Qatar
Palestine 0-1 Australia
Kyrgyzstan 1-0 Oman
Syria 0-5 Japan
Bahrain 0-2 UAE
Jordan 0-2 Saudi Arabia
Afghanistan 0-4 Kuwait
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Pakistan 0-3 Jordan
Australia 2-0 Lebanon
Chinese Taipei 0-2 Kyrgyzstan
Japan 1-0 North Korea
South Korea 1-1 Thailand
Myanmar 1-1 Syria
Hong Kong 0-2 Uzbekistan
Singapore 2-2 China
Indonesia 1-0 Vietnam
Iran 5-0 Turkmenistan
Oman 2-0 Malaysia
UAE 2-1 Yemen
Qatar 3-0 Kuwait
Palestine 5-0 Bangladesh
Iraq 1-0 Philippines
Nepal 0-5 Bahrain
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Tajikistan
Afghanistan 0-0 India
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
North Korea vs Japan — Postponed
Lebanon 0-5 Australia
Bangladesh 0-1 Palestine
Philippines 0-5 Iraq
China 4-1 Singapore
Vietnam 0-3 Indonesia
Thailand 0-3 South Korea
India 1-2 Afghanistan
Kyrgyzstan 5-1 Chinese Taipei
Malaysia 0-2 Oman
Uzbekistan 3-0 Hong Kong
Turkmenistan 0-1 Iran
Tajikistan 1-1 Saudi Arabia
Bangladesh 0-1 Palestine
Yemen 0-3 UAE
Bahrain 3-0 Nepal
Kuwait 1-2 Qatar
Syria 7-0 Myanmar
Jordan 7-0 Tajikistan
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