World Cup 2026 qualification gets underway !!!

[Damavand]

Can you believe that the beginning of the qualification is only one week away. So other than the TM games which will have its own thread, please use this thread to discuss all the qualification games from around the world. I am also listing the schedule for the AFC games and I will post a new one a few days before each games. Enjoy this qualification and lets hope we can finally get passed the group stage at WC 2026.

The first time shown is US Pacific and the second one is CET.

AFC Round 2 day one:


Nov 16

Australia - Bangladesh ............1:00 AM.............10:00 AM

Japan - Myanmar.................2:02 AM...............11:02 AM

South Korea - Singapore..............3:00 AM..............12:00 PM

Philippines - Vietnam...............3:00 AM..............12:00 PM

Thailand - China..............4:30 AM............1:30 PM

Malaysia - Kyrgyzstan.............5:00 AM.............2:00 PM

Tajikistan - Jordan.............5:00 AM............2:00 PM

Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan............6:00 AM.............3:00 PM

Lebanon - Palestine...............6:00 AM...............3:00 PM

Iran - Hong Kong................6:30 AM.................3:30 PM

Iraq - Indonesia.............6:45 AM...............3:45 PM

Oman - Taiwan.............7:00 AM..............4:00 PM

UAE - Nepal..............7:45 AM...............4:45 PM

Qatar - Afghanistan.............7:45 AM..............4:45 PM

KSA - Pakistan.............8:30 AM..............5:30 PM

Kuwait - India............8:30 AM..............5:30 PM

Syria - North Korea............9:00 AM...............6:00 PM

Yemen - Bahrain..............10:00 AM...........7:00 PM

[peiman92]

We will probably start with a 2-0 or 3-0 victory vs Hong Kong. Will be very interesting to see if Turkmenistan can do something vs Uzbekistan at home.

[Damavand]

Of course it’s imperative that we finish first in our group this way we can maintain our FIFA ranking. If all goes well we will be avoiding Japan and South Korea in the next round as we cannot be drawn in the same group.

[Pluto2000]

Of course it’s imperative that we finish first in our group this way we can maintain our FIFA ranking. If all goes well we will be avoiding Japan and South Korea in the next round as we cannot be drawn in the same group.

I hope we get Saudi/Australia/Oman. We get getting god awful teams like Bahrain, Lebanon, and Syria every cycle and get easy wins

[Keshwardoost]

Wow thx for the thread. Allteady time. Now lets se IF Ghaedi is invited

[Damavand]

I hope we get Saudi/Australia/Oman. We get getting god awful teams like Bahrain, Lebanon, and Syria every cycle and get easy wins

I want Australia. It’s been FOREVER since we have faced them.

[Damavand]

Wow thx for the thread. Allteady time. Now lets se IF Ghaedi is invited

Always liked Ghaedi. Hope he gets his opportunity.

[Pluto2000]

I want Australia. It’s been FOREVER since we have faced them.

Same. I hope for final round we get a juicy group, we are basically guaranteed anyways, might as well have some hard matches

[Nokhodi]

No thanks. Playing Australia away is nuts. It’s way too long of a journey.

[Pluto2000]

No thanks. Playing Australia away is nuts. It’s way too long of a journey.

Meh, it's nice to see our team playing in Japan or Australia for a change with a good atmosphere

[milad_b]

I think saudi would be nice to have. I rather avoid Australia and japan.

[eerooni]

What if this time we actually win the coveted Asian Cup with coach GN ( new castle) !!

[Damavand]

I think saudi would be nice to have. I rather avoid Australia and japan.

As long as the current FIFA ranking holds we will be avoiding Japan and South Korea as they will be in the same pot as us.

[milad_b]

As long as the current FIFA ranking holds we will be avoiding Japan and South Korea as they will be in the same pot as us.

Oh so there will be 6 pots. Each pot will have 3 teams... In that case there is also a chance that we avoid both australia and saudi and get Qatar/Iraq (if rankings change) instead. But i wanna get Saudi .

So looking at the current fifa ranking : there is a chance we get this group:

Easy group:

Iran
Qatar
Oman
China
Vietnam
India

Harder Group:

Iran
Australia
UAE
Uzbekistan
Bahrain
Kyrgzstan


Ofc if they qualify to next round which is very likely for those teams. India beating kuwait and afghanistan . Vietnam will most likely beat Philipine and Indonesia.

[Keshwardoost]

Oh so there will be 6 pots. Each pot will have 3 teams... In that case there is also a chance that we avoid both australia and saudi and get Qatar/Iraq (if rankings change) instead. But i wanna get Saudi .

So looking at the current fifa ranking : there is a chance we get this group:

Easy group:

Iran
Qatar
Oman
China
Vietnam
India

Harder Group:

Iran
Australia
UAE
Uzbekistan
Bahrain
Kyrgzstan


Ofc if they qualify to next round which is very likely for those teams. India beating kuwait and afghanistan . Vietnam will most likely beat Philipine and Indonesia.

Unsure but I may prefer B, playing vs (based on last wcq) strong Oman with Branko and Qatar with CQ. The other 3 teams wont help any top 3 team.

Playing vs Aussies would be fun and the other teams can take points away from both TM and Australia and that makes me strangely feel much better about it. We could drop a point vs Australia and they could aswell drop vs UAE.

Playing Branko and CQ would be fun aswell but..

Btw, is it possible that we end upp with S Korea again?

Thats the gut feeling atm..