2026 Fifa World Cup Qualification – Afc Second Round

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round
Tournament details
Dates	16 November 2023 – 11 June 2024
Teams	36 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	71
Goals scored	230 (3.24 per match)
Attendance	1,372,016 (19,324 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Almoez Ali; (7 goals)
	← 2022 2030 → All statistics correct as of 26 March 2024.

Format

A total of 36 teams were drawn into 9 groups of 4 to play home-and-away round-robin matches. They included the 26 teams which received byes to this round, and the 10 winners from the first round.

The winners and runners-up of each group will advance to the third round and qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. The third and fourth place teams will advance to the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualification.

Seeding

The draw for the second round was held on 27 July 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2023 (shown in parentheses below). The identities of the first round winners were not known at the time of the draw.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the third round of World Cup qualifying.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Japan (20) Iran (22) Australia (27) South Korea (28) Saudi Arabia (54) Qatar (59) Iraq (70) United Arab Emirates (72) Oman (73)	Uzbekistan (74) China (80) Jordan (82) Bahrain (86) Syria (94) Vietnam (95) Palestine (96) Kyrgyzstan (97) India (99)	Lebanon (100) Tajikistan (110) Thailand (113) North Korea (115) Philippines (135) Malaysia (136) Kuwait (137) Turkmenistan (138)	Hong Kong (149)^† Indonesia (150)^† Chinese Taipei (153)^† Yemen (156)^†‡ Afghanistan (157)^† Singapore (158)^† Myanmar (160)^† Nepal (175)^† Bangladesh (189)^† Pakistan (201)^†

^† Teams whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.
^‡ Team moved to Pot 3 after the other Pot 4 teams had been drawn into groups; subsequently drawn at random from Pot 3.

Schedule

The schedule is expected to be as follows, according to the FIFA International Match Calendar.

Matchday	Date(s)
Matchday 1	16 November 2023
Matchday 2	21 November 2023
Matchday 3	21 March 2024
Matchday 4	26 March 2024
Matchday 5	6 June 2024
Matchday 6	11 June 2024

Groups

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Qatar (Q)	4	4	0	0	16	2	+14	12	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	11 Jun	8–1	3–0
2	India	4	1	1	2	2	5	−3	4	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	0–3	—	1–2	6 Jun
3	Afghanistan	4	1	1	2	3	13	−10	4	Asian Cup qualifying third round	6 Jun	0–0	—	0–4
4	Kuwait	4	1	0	3	5	6	−1	3	Asian Cup qualifying third round	1–2	0–1	11 Jun	—

Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: FIFA AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

16 November 2023

18:45 UTC+3

Qatar	8–1	Afghanistan
Al-Haydos 11' Ali 15', 26', 33' (pen.), 45+3' (pen.) Meshaal 18' Alaaeldin 53' (pen.) Al-Abdullah 90+4'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Sharifi 13'

Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 19,374

Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)

16 November 2023

19:30 UTC+3

Kuwait	0–1	India
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Manvir 75'

Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 32,786

Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia)

21 November 2023

20:00 UTC+3

Afghanistan	0–4	Kuwait
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Al-Khaldi 18' (pen.), 80' Daham 69' Saleh 82'

Al-Ettifaq Club Stadium, Khobar (Saudi Arabia)

Attendance: 330

Referee: Ahmed Faisal Al-Ali (Jordan)

21 November 2023

19:00 UTC+5:30

India	0–3	Qatar
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Meshaal 4' Ali 47' Abdurisag 86'

Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar

Attendance: 11,389

Referee: Sivakorn Pu-udom (Thailand)

21 March 2024

21:30 UTC+3

Qatar	3–0	Kuwait
Afif 47', 68' Al-Rawi 51'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 9,826

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

21 March 2024

22:00 UTC+3

Afghanistan	0–0	India
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Damac Club Stadium, Khamis Mushait (Saudi Arabia)

Attendance: 3,900

Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)

26 March 2024

19:00 UTC+5:30

India	1–2	Afghanistan
Chhetri 38' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Akbari 70' Mukhammad 88' (pen.)

Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati

Attendance: 8,932

Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)

26 March 2024

22:00 UTC+3

Kuwait	1–2	Qatar
Daham 79'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Ali 77', 80'

Ali Sabah Al-Salem Stadium, Farwaniya

Attendance: 8,460

Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)

6 June 2024

--:-- UTC+3

Afghanistan	v	Qatar
	Report

Al Thumama Stadium, Doha (Qatar)

6 June 2024

19:00 UTC+5:30

India	v	Kuwait
	Report

Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata

11 June 2024

18:45 UTC+3

Qatar	v	India
	Report

Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan

11 June 2024

20:45 UTC+3

Kuwait	v	Afghanistan
	Report

Sabah Al-Salem Stadium, Kuwait City

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan (Q)	4	4	0	0	14	0	+14	12	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	11 Jun	1–0	5–0
2	Syria	4	2	1	1	9	6	+3	7	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	0–5	—	1–0	7–0
3	North Korea	4	1	0	3	6	6	0	3	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–3	6 Jun	—	11 Jun
4	Myanmar	4	0	1	3	2	19	−17	1	Asian Cup qualifying third round	6 Jun	1–1	1–6	—

Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: FIFA AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:

2026 Fifa World Cup Qualification – Afc Second Round

Format

Seeding

Schedule

Groups

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Group I

Goalscorers

Notes

References

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	4	3	1	0	12	1	+11	10	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	11 Jun	1–1	5–0
2	China	4	2	1	1	8	7	+1	7	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	0–3	—	6 Jun	4–1
3	Thailand	4	1	1	2	5	7	−2	4	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–3	1–2	—	11 Jun
4	Singapore	4	0	1	3	4	14	−10	1	Asian Cup qualifying third round	6 Jun	2–2	1–3	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kyrgyzstan	4	3	1	11	5	+6	9	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	1–0	6 Jun	5–1
2	Oman	4	3	1	7	1	+6	9	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	11 Jun	—	2–0	3–0
3	Malaysia	4	2	2	5	7	−2	6	Asian Cup qualifying third round	4–3	0–2	—	11 Jun
4	Chinese Taipei (Q)	4	0	4	1	11	−10	0	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–2	6 Jun	0–1	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran (Q)	4	3	1	0	12	2	+10	10	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	11 Jun	5–0	4–0
2	Uzbekistan (Q)	4	3	1	0	10	3	+7	10	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	2–2	—	6 Jun	3–0
3	Turkmenistan (Q)	4	0	1	3	3	11	−8	1	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–1	1–3	—	11 Jun
4	Hong Kong (Q)	4	0	1	3	2	11	−9	1	Asian Cup qualifying third round	6 Jun	0–2	2–2	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iraq (Q)	4	4	0	0	12	1	+11	12	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	5–1	11 Jun	1–0
2	Indonesia	4	2	1	1	6	6	0	7	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	6 Jun	—	1–0	11 Jun
3	Vietnam	4	1	0	3	2	5	−3	3	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–1	0–3	—	6 Jun
4	Philippines	4	0	1	3	1	9	−8	1	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–5	1–1	0–2	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saudi Arabia	4	3	1	0	8	1	+7	10	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	11 Jun	1–0	4–0
2	Jordan	4	2	1	1	11	3	+8	7	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	0–2	—	6 Jun	7–0
3	Tajikistan	4	1	2	1	8	4	+4	5	Asian Cup qualifying third round	1–1	1–1	—	11 Jun
4	Pakistan (Q)	4	0	0	4	1	20	−19	0	Asian Cup qualifying third round	6 Jun	0–3	1–6	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United Arab Emirates (Q)	4	4	0	11	1	+10	12	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	11 Jun	2–1	4–0
2	Bahrain	4	3	1	10	2	+8	9	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	0–2	—	6 Jun	3–0
3	Yemen	4	1	3	3	7	−4	3	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–3	0–2	—	11 Jun
4	Nepal (Q)	4	0	4	0	14	−14	0	Asian Cup qualifying third round	6 Jun	0–5	0–2	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia (Q)	4	4	0	0	15	0	+15	12	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	11 Jun	2–0	7–0
2	Palestine	4	2	1	1	6	1	+5	7	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	0–1	—	6 Jun	5–0
3	Lebanon	4	0	2	2	1	8	−7	2	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–5	0–0	—	11 Jun
4	Bangladesh	4	0	1	3	1	14	−13	1	Asian Cup qualifying third round	6 Jun	0–1	1–1	—