World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers: Tension Waiting for the Sprint

Indonesia (left) is full of hope before the last two rounds - Photo: Reuters

Of the 18 teams participating in this stage, only Japan and Iran secured early tickets, and North Korea said goodbye to their World Cup dream early.

Difficult for Asian champion

In the early morning of March 26 (Vietnam time), a series of unexpected results appeared in the 8th round of matches. In which, Kyrgyzstan unexpectedly defeated Asian champion Qatar 3-1 in Group A. In Group B, all 3 matches ended in unexpected ways: Jordan drew with South Korea, Oman defeated Kuwait, and Palestine had a historic victory over Iraq.

Iran is the team following Japan when they drew 2-2 with Uzbekistan, the result was enough for them to secure a ticket to the 2nd round of matches. However, the race for the 2nd ticket in Group A is still open when Uzbekistan has 4 more points than UAE and the two teams still have 1 direct match. However, Qatar is the team that is "shaky" the most after this match when they unexpectedly lost to Kyrgyzstan.

This defeat has left Qatar with no hope of securing an early ticket to the third round, as they currently have 10 points, seven points behind second-place Uzbekistan. On the other hand, Qatar is only four points ahead of fifth-place Kyrgyzstan.

In the last two rounds, Qatar will face Iran and Uzbekistan - both very strong opponents. On the contrary, Kyrgyzstan will face UAE and North Korea - teams that have run out of motivation to compete. In the most shocking scenario, Kyrgyzstan will knock Qatar out of 4th place to surpass the Asian champion to compete for a ticket to the 4th round.

China (red shirt) was defeated 2-0 by Australia on March 25 - Photo: AFP

Nothing is decided in groups B and C yet.

In Group B, South Korea could not secure an early ticket after being held to a draw by Jordan. Currently, South Korea has 16 points after 8 matches, 3 more than Jordan, 4 more than Iraq and 6 more than Oman. The race for the top 2 in this group is therefore still wide open with 4 teams.

South Korea cannot be complacent, because in the 9th match taking place in June, they will meet host Iraq. The risk of defeat is not small for South Korea, especially when Son Heung Min and his teammates have been playing inconsistently for over a year.

Meanwhile, the two teams at the bottom of Group B, Palestine (6 points) and Kuwait (5 points), are still hoping to make it to the top 4. Despite being considered the underdogs, Palestine has continuously created an earthquake in this group with 2 draws with South Korea and a recent victory over Iraq. The opportunity is completely in Palestine's hands, because they will face two direct competitors, Kuwait and Oman, in the last 2 rounds. The scenario of South Korea falling out of the top 2 may be unrealistic, but the opportunity for Palestine to make it to the top 4 is very clear.

Finally, Group C, a group in which, apart from the very strong Japan, no team can be truly assured of their position. Australia is currently holding second place in the group with 13 points, 3 points ahead of Saudi Arabia with a superior goal difference. But in the last two matches, Australia will have to face Japan and Saudi Arabia in a "6-point match" that promises to be extremely attractive.

Indonesia, with 9 points following closely behind, has not given up on their ambition to finish in the top 2. Indonesia has a significant advantage in the race for the top 4, outperforming China and Bahrain (both with 6 points). The match against China in the 9th round will be the "final" for Indonesia, a draw is almost enough for them to be assured of a top 4 finish. But if they win, Indonesia can keep their hopes of finishing in the top 2 alive in case Australia loses to Japan.

A total of 8 official tickets and 1 intercontinental play-off ticket are allocated to Asia. The first 6 tickets will be awarded to the group winners and runners-up in the 3 groups in the 3rd stage. The 6 third and fourth placed teams in each group will continue to the 4th round to compete for the remaining 2 official tickets.

The final two matches of phase 3 will take place in early June, while phase 4 will start in October.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vong-loai-world-cup-2026-khu-vuc-chau-a-cang-thang-cho-cu-nuoc-rut-20250327104653918.htm