2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round

2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round

Tournament details
Dates	25 March 2025 – 31 March 2026
Teams	24 (from 1 confederation)
← 2023 2031 →

The third round of 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification will be played from 25 March 2025 to 31 March 2026. ^[1]

Format

A total of 24 teams (3 best ranked losing teams from the first round + 18 third and fourth-placed teams from the second round + 3 winners from the play-off round) will participate in the third round to compete for the final six slots in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

The 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. Only the group winners of each group will qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, where they will be joined by the 18 teams which qualify directly from the second round. ^[1]

Qualified teams

Best ranked losing teams from the first round
Bhutan
Maldives
Laos

Second round third and fourth place
Group	Third place	Fourth place	Qualified (position TBD)
A
B
C
D			Chinese Taipei
E			Turkmenistan   Hong Kong
F
G			Pakistan
H			Nepal
I

Winners of the play-off round

Schedule

The schedule of each matchday was as follows. ^{[2] [3]}

Matchday	Date(s)
Matchday 1	25 March 2025
Matchday 2	10 June 2025
Matchday 3	9 September 2025
Matchday 4	14 October 2025
Matchday 5	18 November 2025
Matchday 6	31 March 2026

Groups

The winners of each group qualified for the final tournament.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 9.3): ^[4]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
5. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying criteria 1 to 4, a subset of teams were still tied, criteria 1 to 4 were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
6. Goal difference in all group matches;
7. Goals scored in all group matches;
8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
9. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
10. Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2027 AFC Asian Cup
2	A2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	A3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	A4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2027 AFC Asian Cup
2	B2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	B3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	B4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	C1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2027 AFC Asian Cup
2	C2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	C3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	C4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2027 AFC Asian Cup
2	D2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	D4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	E1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2027 AFC Asian Cup
2	E2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	E3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	E4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	F1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2027 AFC Asian Cup
2	F2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	F3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	F4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

References

1. "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". AFC. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
2. "AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2024 - Jul 2025)" (PDF). AFC.
3. "AFC Competitions Calendar (Aug 2025 - Jul 2026)" (PDF). AFC.
4. "AFC Asian Cup 2019 Competition Regulations". AFC.