All 8 places in Asia for the World Cup have been confirmed. One article reviews the World Cup preliminaries. It is a pity for the Chinese men’s football team.

In the 2026 U.S.-Canada-Mexico World Cup, the number of participating teams has expanded from the original 32 to 48. Correspondingly, the number of places in the Asian Division has also been increased to 8.5, that is, 8 places to directly participate in the World Cup and 1 place to participate in the intercontinental play-offs.

After the competition in the Asian division of the World Cup preliminaries, all eight Asian teams that will directly advance to the World Cup have been determined, and the Chinese men's football team fell in the last two steps.

Participating teams: 46

A total of 46 teams signed up to participate in the World Preliminaries!

In the first stage,

the 20 teams ranked 27-46 will compete in a two-round home and away match. The winner will enter the second stage, and the loser will be eliminated directly and will definitely miss the World Cup.

Myanmar 5-1 Macau, China, Chinese Taipei 7-0 East Timor, Bangladesh 3-2 Maldives, Singapore 3-1 Guam, Nepal 2-1 Laos.

Hong Kong China 4-2 Bhutan, Indonesia 12-0 Brunei, Pakistan 1-0 Cambodia, Afghanistan 2-0 Mongolia, Yemen 4-1 Sri Lanka.

In the second stage

, the 26 teams ranked 1-26 and the 10 teams that advanced in the first stage are divided into 9 groups for a home and away double-leg group stage. The top 2 teams in the group, a total of 18 teams, advance to the third stage, and the bottom 2 teams in the group, a total of 18 teams, are eliminated and miss the World Cup.

The Chinese men's football team was placed in Group C with South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore. After the group stage, the Chinese men's football team relied on its goal difference to defeat Thailand, ranking second in the group, and successfully advanced. The teams that advance to the top 18 are:

Qatar and Kuwait in Group A; Japan and North Korea in Group B; South Korea and China in Group C;

Oman and Kyrgyzstan in Group D; Iran and Uzbekistan in Group E; Iraq and Indonesia in Group F;

Jordan and Saudi Arabia in Group G; United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in Group H; Australia and Palestine in Group I.

It is worth mentioning that of the 10 teams that advanced in the first stage, only Indonesia achieved a counterattack and advanced to the third stage. It was this dark horse that ended the Chinese men's football team's World Cup journey.

The third stage

The 18 teams are divided into 3 groups and play a home and away double-leg group stage. The top 2 teams in the group directly advance to the World Cup. The 3-4 teams in the group enter the fourth stage. The 5-6 teams in the group are eliminated and miss the World Cup.

The Chinese men’s football team is in Group C with Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Indonesia, and Bahrain. After losing to Saudi Arabia and Australia, the Chinese men's football team still relied on defeating Indonesia and Bahrain to rank fourth in the first half. However, in the second half, the Chinese men's football team lost 0-1 to Indonesia and was eliminated early, falling two steps before the finish line.

The six teams that will advance directly are:

Iran and Uzbekistan in Group A, South Korea and Jordan in Group B, and Japan and Australia in Group C.

The ones entering the fourth stage are:

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Group A, Iraq and Oman in Group B, and Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in Group C.

In the fourth stage,

6 teams will be divided into 2 groups for a single round-robin group stage. The first place in the 2 groups will advance to the World Cup, and the second place in the 2 groups will compete for the opportunity of the intercontinental play-offs.

In the end, Qatar in Group A, after being tied 0-0 by Oman, defeated the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the second game, ranking first in the group with 1 win and 1 draw to advance to the World Cup. The UAE ranked second in the group with 1 win and 1 loss, and Oman was eliminated with 1 draw and 1 loss.

Saudi Arabia made a 0-0 draw with Iraq in the key match of Group B. Relying on the advantage of goals, they defeated Iraq to advance to the World Cup. Saudi Arabia and Iraq both won 1 and drew 1, but Saudi Arabia scored 3 and conceded 2, while Iraq scored 1 and conceded 0. The goal difference was the same, but the number of goals scored was not as good as Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, they entered the intercontinental play-offs.

The eight teams that finally entered the World Cup were Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Uzbekistan and Jordan are both participating in the World Cup for the first time.

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