The draw for the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada will be made today (Thursday) in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The drawing ceremony takes place at the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation in Kuala Lumpur, to determine the path to reach the next World Cup based on the increase in the number of seats on the Asian continent, which has reached eight seats and a half.
The 18 teams that passed the second round of joint qualifications for the decisive round of the World Cup qualifiers and the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers will participate in the draw, in which 36 teams competed in this stage after having been divided into 9 groups. that the first and second of each group will reach the third round, in addition to securing the 18 teams participating in the next edition of the continental final, hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2027.
The third stage, which will begin its competitions from September 5, will see the distribution of the 18 teams qualified for the third stage into three groups, each group containing six teams, which will play home and away matches between them. that the first and second places in each group will directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup final with a total score of six teams out of the total quota of eight and a half seats.
The AFC approved the distribution of the 18 teams into six levels, before the draw, according to the latest monthly ranking published by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on June 20, as stipulated by FIFA instructions. the last monthly ranking of the teams issued before the date of the draw is adopted in the distribution of… Levels of the participating teams at all stages of the qualifications.
The teams were divided among the six levels, with each level comprising three teams, with the first level teams topping the three groups, and the second level teams coming second in the three groups, and so on until until all six levels are completed.
According to the latest world ranking, the first level was occupied by: the Japanese team, which ranked (17th), then the Iranian team, which ranked (20th), then the South Korean team, who ranked (22nd).
As for the second level, the teams ranked: Australia in 23rd place, then the Qatari team, which lost one place and found itself in 35th place, and the Iraqi team, which arrived at 55th place.
At the third level arrived: the Saudi national team, which lost three places and is now ranked (56th), then the Uzbek national team, which ranked (62nd), and the Jordanian national team, which gained three places and is now ranked (68th). .
At the fourth level, the teams were ranked: United Arab Emirates ranked 69th, Oman 76th and Bahrain 81st.
As for the fifth level, the Chinese team ranked (88th), the Palestinian team (95th) and the Kyrgyz national team (101st).
As for the sixth and final level, it included teams: North Korea ranked (110th), Indonesia ranked (134th), then the Kuwaiti team, ranked (137th).
