# 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round

The third round of AFC matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification is played from 5 September 2024 to 10 June 2025.

## Format

The eighteen teams that advanced from the second round (nine group winners and nine group runners-up) were divided into three groups of six teams. The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top two teams of each group will qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the third and fourth-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
From the teams that advance to the fourth round, the two teams with the best results in this round also receive the right to host the fourth round groups.

## Qualified teams

The following teams finished first or second in their respective second round groups:
* Australia
* Bahrain
* China
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* North Korea
* Oman
* Palestine
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* South Korea
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan

## Draw

The draw for the third round was held on 27 June 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The seeding for the draw was based on the FIFA Men's World Rankings on 20 June 2024 (shown in parentheses below).
Each group contained one team from each of the six pots. The draw started with Pot 6 and concluded with Pot 1, with each team drawn being placed in the corresponding position sequentially in Group A, then B, then C.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
| Japan (17) Iran (20) South Korea (22) | Australia (23) Qatar (35) Iraq (55) | Saudi Arabia (56) Uzbekistan (62) Jordan (68) |
| Pot 4 | Pot 5 | Pot 6 |
| United Arab Emirates (69) Oman (76) Bahrain (81) | China (88) Palestine (95) Kyrgyzstan (101) | North Korea (110) Indonesia (134) Kuwait (137) |

## Schedule

The competition schedule is expected to be as follows:
| Matchday | Date |
| Matchday 1 | 5 September 2024 |
| Matchday 2 | 10 September 2024 |
| Matchday 3 | 10 October 2024 |
| Matchday 4 | 15 October 2024 |
| Matchday 5 | 14–15 November 2024 |
| Matchday 6 | 19 November 2024 |
| Matchday 7 | 20 March 2025 |
| Matchday 8 | 25 March 2025 |
| Matchday 9 | 5 June 2025 |
| Matchday 10 | 10 June 2025 |

## Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Iran (X) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 16 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 25 Mar | 20 Mar | 4–1 | 1–0 | 10 Jun |
| 2 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 13 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 10 Jun | 20 Mar | 1–0 |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 10 | Fourth round | 0–1 | 5 Jun | — | 5–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| 4 | Qatar | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 7 | Fourth round | 5 Jun | 3–2 | 1–3 | — | 3–1 | 20 Mar |
| 5 | Kyrgyzstan | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 3 | | 2–3 | 2–3 | 10 Jun | 25 Mar | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | North Korea | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 2 | | 2–3 | 0–1 | 25 Mar | 2–2 | 5 Jun | — |

## Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | South Korea | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 14 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 3–2 | 25 Mar | 20 Mar | 10 Jun | 0–0 |
| 2 | Iraq | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 11 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | 5 Jun | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 20 Mar | 1–0 |
| 3 | Jordan | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 9 | Fourth round | 0–2 | 10 Jun | — | 4–0 | 1–1 | 20 Mar |
| 4 | Oman | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 6 | Fourth round | 1–3 | 0–1 | 5 Jun | — | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| 5 | Kuwait | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 4 | | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 25 Mar | — | 5 Jun |
| 6 | Palestine | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 | | 1–1 | 25 Mar | 1–3 | 10 Jun | 2–2 | — |

## Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Japan (X) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 2 | +20 | 16 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 10 Jun | 25 Mar | 20 Mar | 7–0 |
| 2 | Australia | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 7 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | 5 Jun | — | 20 Mar | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Indonesia | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 6 | Fourth round | 0–4 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 25 Mar | 5 Jun |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 6 | Fourth round | 0–2 | 10 Jun | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 20 Mar |
| 5 | Bahrain | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 6 | | 0–5 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 5 Jun | — | 0–1 |
| 6 | China | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 16 | −10 | 6 | | 1–3 | 25 Mar | 2–1 | 1–2 | 10 Jun | — |

## Goalscorers

There have been 142 goals scored in 54 matches, for an average of 2.63 goals per match (as of 19 November 2024).
5 goals
* Yazan Al-Naimat
* Almoez Ali
4 goals
* Mohammad Mohebi
* Kōki Ogawa
* Fábio Lima
3 goals
* Sardar Azmoun
* Aymen Hussein
* Takumi Minamino
* Hidemasa Morita
* Yousef Nasser
* Joel Kojo
* Son Heung-min
* Harib Abdalla
* Abbosbek Fayzullaev
2 goals
* Kusini Yengi
* Mahdi Abduljabbar
* Mohamed Marhoon
* Zhang Yuning
* Marselino Ferdinan
* Mehdi Ghayedi
* Mehdi Taremi
* Ayase Ueda
* Ali Olwan
* Mohammad Daham
* Muhsen Al-Ghassani
* Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri
* Wessam Abou Ali
* Zaid Qunbar
* Ibrahim Al-Hassan
* Hassan Kadesh
* Lee Jae-sung
* Oh Hyeon-gyu
* Oh Se-hun
* Yahya Al-Ghassani
1 goal
* Craig Goodwin
* Lewis Miller
* Nishan Velupillay
* Behram Abduweli
* Lin Liangming
* Xie Wenneng
* Thom Haye
* Ragnar Oratmangoen
* Rafael Struick
* Sandy Walsh
* Saleh Hardani
* Youssef Amyn
* Ibrahim Bayesh
* Wataru Endō
* Ko Itakura
* Junya Itō
* Daichi Kamada
* Takefusa Kubo
* Daizen Maeda
* Kaoru Mitoma
* Yukinari Sugawara
* Noor Al-Rawabdeh
* Musa Al-Taamari
* Odilzhon Abdurakhmanov
* Khristiyan Brauzman
* Alimardon Shukurov
* Jong Il-gwan
* Kang Kuk-chol
* Kim Yu-song
* Ri Il-song
* Abdullah Fawaz
* Akram Afif
* Lucas Mendes
* Musab Al-Juwayr
* Bae Jun-ho
* Hwang Hee-chan
* Joo Min-kyu
* Khaled Ibrahim
* Marcus Meloni
* Ali Saleh
* Husniddin Aliqulov
* Jaloliddin Masharipov
* Eldor Shomurodov
* Otabek Shukurov
* Oston Urunov
1 own goal
* Cameron Burgess (against Japan)
* Harry Souttar (against Bahrain)
* Justin Hubner (against Japan)
* Mehdi Taremi (against North Korea)
* Shogo Taniguchi (against Australia)
* Tamirlan Kozubayev (against Qatar)
* Ali Lajami (against China)
* Jung Seung-hyun (against Oman)