18 teams in third round of World Cup Asian qualifiers revealed

The final fixture of the second qualifying round on Tuesday confirmed the remaining five teams to advance: Kuwait, North Korea, China, Kyrgyzstan and Indonesia.

Kuwait defeated Afghanistan 1-0 to move from last place to second in their group and North Korea beat Myanmar 4-1 to get past Syria. China lost 1-0 to South Korea but managed to squeak through on goal difference instead of Thailand, who beat Singapore 3-1.

Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan drew 1-1 against Oman and Indonesia beat Philippines 2-0 to maintain their place in their groups.

Lee Kang-in celebrates with Son Heung-min after scoring the only goal to help South Korea beat China 1-0 in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on June 11, 2024. Photo by KFA

The remaining four second-placed teams were Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Palestine, who joined group winners Qatar, Japan, South Korea, Oman, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, UAE and Australia.

Japan won all their games, scoring 24 goals and conceding zero. Australia and Iraq also won all their games, while other unbeaten teams were the UAE, South Korea, and Qatar with five wins and one draw, and Iran and Uzbekistan with four wins and two draws.

Strikers Almoez Ali of Qatar and Son Heung-min of South Korea led the scoring in round two, with seven goals each.

The number of spectators at the stadiums was almost 2.051 million, an average of around 19,160 per match. The most crowded match was Indonesia's 2-0 win over Philippines in the final fixture on Tuesday, with 64,942 spectators.

The third qualifying round draw will be held on June 27 in Kuala Lumpur. There will be six seeded groups based on the FIFA ranking in the most recent month. The 2026 World Cup is the first time Asia has 8.5 participation slots; previously it was 4.5.

In the third qualifying round, 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six, selecting the top two teams from each group to play 2026 World Cup. Matches will take place from Sept. 5, 2024 to June 10, 2025, with 10 matches held across various months in between.

The six teams ranked third and fourth will enter the fourth qualifying round, dividing into two groups of three and play a neutral venue. The two top teams of each group will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The two second-place teams will compete in two rounds of the play-off, and the winner will enter an intercontinental play-off.