“Saudi Arabia clashes with Japan and a struggle between 5 Arab teams” .. results of the Asian draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers

The Asian Football Confederation revealed the results of the draw for the third, decisive round in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, which is being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, where the draw ceremony was held in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The third round will witness the participation of 18 teams, divided into three groups: The first and second in each group will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, while the third and fourth of each group will qualify for the fourth round, while the fifth and sixth places will be satisfied with qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, with a farewell to the World Cup trip.

Swiss Gianni Infantino congratulated the eighteen teams that qualified for the decisive round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He also praised the development of Asian football, after the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup were organized in Qatar. He also expressed his wishes for success in reserving seats in the World Cup. After the base of qualifiers from the Asian continent was expanded, compared to previous editions.

The results of the third round draw, with the participation of the Saudi team, were as follows:

The first group: Iran – Qatar – Uzbekistan – UAE – Kyrgyzstan – North Korea.

the second group: South Korea – Iraq – Jordan – Sultanate of Oman – Palestine – Kuwait.

Third group: Japan – Australia – Saudi Arabia – Bahrain – China – Indonesia.

With the end of the third round competitions, 6 Asian teams will be qualified, out of 8 seats allocated directly to the yellow continent, while the teams that qualify for the fourth round, or the Asian qualifiers, will compete for the remaining two seats, with half an Asian seat remaining, for a team that will participate in the global playoff.

In the Asian playoff, 6 teams qualify in two groups, with the winner of each group qualifying directly to the World Cup, while the runners-up of the two groups will play a confrontation in the fifth round, with the winner qualifying for the global playoff.

The Saudi national team qualified for the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, after occupying runner-up in Group Seven, in the second round of the joint Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup, with a goal difference from leaders Jordan.

Before holding the draw ceremony, the AFC organized a classification of the participating teams’ levels, based on the International Federation (FIFA) world rankings for June 2024, which came as follows:

– First level: Japan, Iran, South Korea.

– Second level: Australia, Qatar, Iraq.

– Third level: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Jordan.

– Fourth level: UAE, Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain.

– Level five: China, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan.

– Sixth level: North Korea, Indonesia, Kuwait.