The race to the 2026 World Cup is on – and with it the first opportunity in history for nations outside Europe to qualify directly from a multi-stage, double-round-robin tournament. The expansion of the finals to 48 teams has made the qualification process even more complex, and while some nations are already well on their way to the next tournament, other federations are still in the midst of a grueling campaign.

The road to the World Cup for Asia is a particularly lengthy one, with eight direct spots and a single inter-confederation play-off slot allocated to the continent after the expansion. The Asian Football Confederation’s governing body approved the qualifying format in July, with the first round taking place in October and November 2023.

In Round 1, the 20 lowest-ranked nations played two-legged ties against each other, with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore and Yemen advancing. The top ten from that stage joined the 26 best-ranked nations in Round 2, which began in November 2023 and concluded in June 2024. Teams were drawn into nine groups of four teams, and the top two in each group moved on to the third round.

Uzbekistan booked their spot in the World Cup finals with a 1-0 win over Iraq on Thursday, joining Australia (19 points), Japan (20 points), Oman (13 points) and Saudi Arabia (12 points). The fourth-placed team will enter the inter-confederation play-offs. It’s tight in South America, too, where it appears only Brazil and Ecuador will be able to secure their automatic places at the finals. New Zealand are also in contention for the final place, but will need to win their remaining matches – against Uruguay and Argentina – and hope that Bolivia fail to beat Venezuela at altitude and Colombia win at home to Venezuela.