Gulf teams get to know their double qualifiers

The draw for the second round of the double Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia took place today in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The results of the draw for the Gulf teams were as follows:

The Qatar national team, the 2019 Asian Cup champion, and the Kuwait national team are in the first Group, which includes India and the winner of the first round confrontation No. 1 between Afghanistan and Mongolia.

While the Saudi national team came in the seventh Group, which includes Jordan and Tajikistan, and the winner of the first round confrontation No. 6 between Cambodia and Pakistan.

The Oman national team came in the fourth group, accompanied by Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, and the winner of the first round 7 (China Taipei – East Timor), while Iraq came in the sixth group, accompanied by Vietnam, the Philippines, the winner of the first round 8 (Indonesia – Brunei).

The UAE and Bahrain came in the same group (eighth), with the winner from the first round 4 (Yemen – Sri Lanka), the winner from the first round 10 (Nepal – Laos).

The second round includes 36 teams divided into 9 groups, so that each group includes four teams competing in a two-stage split league system, and the competitions for this round will be held from November 2023 to June 2024.

The first two teams from each group qualify for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers, and at the same time these teams reserve their seats in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia.

The draw for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers will take place during 2024, where the 18 teams qualified for this stage will be distributed into three groups, so that each group includes six teams. The first two teams from each group qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, while the two direct seats will be determined. The remaining two are for the continent of Asia through the continental supplement, while there will be an opportunity for an additional seat through the global supplement.

On the opposite side, the remaining 18 teams will move from the second round to the third and final round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Saudi Arabia.