The third round of AFC matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will be played from 5 September 2024 to 10 June 2025.[1]
The eighteen teams that advanced from the second round (nine group winners and nine group runners-up) were divided into three groups of six teams. The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top two teams of each group will qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the third and fourth-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.[2]
From the teams that advance to the fourth round, the two teams with the best results in this round also receive the right to host the fourth round groups.[3]
The following teams finished first or second in their respective second round groups:[4]
The draw for the third round was held on 27 June 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4]
The seeding for the draw was based on the FIFA Men's World Rankings on 20 June 2024 (shown in parentheses below).[5]
Each group contains one team from each of the six pots. The draw started with Pot 6 and concluded with Pot 1, with each team drawn being placed in the corresponding position sequentially in Group A, then B, then C.[6]
The competition schedule is expected to be as follows:[1][7]
There have been 45 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match (as of 10 September 2024).
2 goals
1 goal
Sandy Walsh
Mehdi Ghayedi Mehdi Taremi
Aymen Hussein
Wataru Endō Junya Itō Takefusa Kubo Daizen Maeda Kaoru Mitoma Kōki Ogawa
Noor Al-Rawabdeh Musa Al-Taamari
Yousef Nasser
Odilzhon Abdurakhmanov Joel Kojo
Kang Kuk-chol Ri Il-song
Wessam Abou Ali
Akram Afif Ibrahim Al-Hassan Almoez Ali
Musab Al-Juwayr
Hwang Hee-chan Joo Min-kyu Son Heung-min
Harib Abdalla Khaled Ibrahim Ali Saleh
Husniddin Aliqulov Jaloliddin Masharipov Eldor Shomurodov Oston Urunov1 own goal
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Harry Souttar (against Bahrain) Ali Lajami (against China) Jung Seung-hyun (against Oman)
