The third round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) World Cup Qualifiers is currently going on as 18 teams are battling it out to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in USA, Mexico and Canada.
AFC FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 QUALIFIERS THIRD ROUND
The third round of the AFC World Cup qualifiers began on September 5, 2024 and ends on 10 June, 2025.
The eighteen teams that advanced from the second round (nine group winners and nine group runners-up) will be divided into three groups of six teams.
The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis (five home and five away games in total).
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.
Here are the points table:
Group A:
| Rank | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Points |
| 1. | Iran | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 20 |
| 2. | Uzbekistan | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 17 |
| 3. | UAE | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| 4. | Qatar | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -5 | 10 |
| 5. | Kyrgyzstan | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -6 | 6 |
| 6. | North Korea | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | -9 | 2 |
Group B:
| Rank | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Points |
| 1. | South Korea | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| 2. | Jordan | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| 3. | Iraq | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| 4. | Oman | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 10 |
| 5. | Palestine | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -5 | 6 |
| 6. | Kuwait | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -7 | 5 |
Group C:
| Rank | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Points |
| 1. | Japan | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 20 |
| 2. | Australia | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 13 |
| 3. | Saudi Arabia | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | -2 | 10 |
| 4. | Indonesia | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -6 | 9 |
| 5. | Bahrain | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -8 | 6 |
| 6. | China | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -13 | 6 |
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com