The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was drawn on Thursday at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The draw resulted in two well-balanced and strong groups of three teams each.

Here are the results of the draw:

First group: Qatar – UAE – Oman

Group B: Saudi Arabia-Iraq-Indonesia

The playoffs (fourth round) will take place from October 8-14.

The leader of each group advances to the FIFA World Cup 26™ finals.

The matches in each group will be played in a single-leg league system with the Qatar Football Association (QFA) and the Saudi Arabian Football Association (SFA) confirmed as hosts last month.

After the end of the playoff competitions, the two second-place finishers in each group will meet in two round-robin matches (the fifth round) to be held on November 13 and 18, as this elimination round will determine the Asian team that will represent the continent in the global playoff, which provides a final opportunity to qualify for the World Cup.

Here are the details of the fifth round:

November 13 (first leg) | Group A runner-up – Group B runner-up

November 18 (second leg) | Group B runner-up – Group A runner-up

Six of the eight direct seats for Asia were decided after the third round of qualifying last month, which saw three groups of six teams each.

Six Asian teams have already officially qualified for the 2026 World Cup: Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan and Australia from the third round to the 2026 World Cup.

The draw was drawn based on three tiers based on the FIFA ranking of Asian teams, which was specifically announced on June 13, 2025 for use in the draw ceremony. Teams were placed in three bowls; ensuring that Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as hosts of the matches, were not placed in the same group.

The first tier included 53rd-ranked Qatar and 58th-ranked Saudi Arabia, while the second tier included 59th-ranked Iraq and 66th-ranked UAE, while the third tier included 79th-ranked Oman and 118th-ranked Indonesia. The third tier included Oman, ranked 79th, and Indonesia, ranked 118th.