2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round

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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round
Tournament details
Host countriesQatar
Saudi Arabia
Dates8–14 October 2025
Teams6 (from 1 confederation)
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The fourth round of AFC matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will be played in October 2025. [1]

Contents

Format

The third-place and fourth-place teams from the third round will be divided into two groups of three teams. Each group will play a round-robin tournament at a centralized venue. [2] The winners of each group will qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the runners-up will advance to the fifth round. [3]

On 13 June 2025, AFC confirmed Qatar and Saudi Arabia as the host countries. [4] The hosts were selected following a bidding process involving prospective teams during the third round. [5] The decision to hold the centralised playoff format in Qatar and Saudi Arabia was met with criticism from Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates over concerns of competitive advantage. [6]

Qualified teams

The following teams finished third or fourth in their respective third round groups:

Draw

The fourth round draw took place on 17 July 2025 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [7] [8] [9] [10]

The seeding for the draw was based on a special release of the FIFA Men's World Rankings for Asian teams on 13 June 2025 (shown in parentheses below). [10]

Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3
  1. Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar (53)
  2. Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia (58)
  1. Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq (59)
  2. Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates (66)
  1. Flag of Oman.svg  Oman (79)
  2. Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia (118)

Schedule

The competition schedule is expected to be as follows: [1]

MatchdayDate
Matchday 18 October 2025
Matchday 211 October 2025
Matchday 314 October 2025

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification Flag of Qatar.svg Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Flag of Oman.svg
1Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar (H)00000000 2026 FIFA World Cup — 14 Oct —
2Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 00000000 Fifth round —— 11 Oct
3Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 00000000 8 Oct ——
First match(es) will be played: 8 October 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Oman  Flag of Oman.svgvFlag of Qatar.svg  Qatar
Report
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
United Arab Emirates  Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svgvFlag of Oman.svg  Oman
Report
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Qatar  Flag of Qatar.svgvFlag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates
Report
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Flag of Iraq.svg Flag of Indonesia.svg
1Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia (H)00000000 2026 FIFA World Cup — 14 Oct —
2Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq 00000000 Fifth round —— 11 Oct
3Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 00000000 8 Oct ——
First match(es) will be played: 8 October 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Indonesia  Flag of Indonesia.svgvFlag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia
Report
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah
Iraq  Flag of Iraq.svgvFlag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia
Report
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah
Saudi Arabia  Flag of Saudi Arabia.svgvFlag of Iraq.svg  Iraq
Report
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions: [11]

The following suspensions were or will be served during the fourth round:

TeamPlayerInfraction(s)Suspended for match(es)
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq Ali Al-Hamadi Red card.svg vs South Korea (5 June 2025)vs Indonesia (11 October 2025)

References

  1. 1 2 "AFC Competitions Calendar (Jul 2025 - Jun 2026)" (PDF). the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 11 April 2025. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "Asia's pathway to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 confirmed". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  4. ↑ "Hosts of AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to 26 Playoffs confirmed". AFC. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  5. ↑ "اتحاد الكرة ينفي عدم التقدم لاستضافة الملحق ويحذر من استهداف للمنتخب" [The Football Association denies not bidding to host the play-off and warns against targeting the national team]. Baghdad Today News (in Arabic). 16 June 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Azharie, Farah (14 June 2025). "AFC under fire over Saudi, Qatar hosting World Cup qualifiers". New Straits Times. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Football Calendar". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  8. ↑ Mendola, Nicholas (11 June 2025). "Asian (AFC) 2026 World Cup qualifying schedule, scores, results, table". nbcsports.com. NBC Sports . Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  9. ↑ "The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on June 13, 2025, that Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been confirmed as the hosts for the upcoming AFC Asian Qualifiers(TM) – Road to 26 Playoffs ..." Facebook . Seasia.co. 14 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Road to 26 Playoffs draw to set stage for remaining contenders". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "Regulations: FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA. June 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
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