In the same group as Japan, Australia and Sand! Is there any hope for the national football team to qualify?

At 3 p.m. Beijing time on June 27, the draw ceremony for the third phase of the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup Asian Qualifiers (Round of 18) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. China is in Group C with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Indonesia.

In the other two groups, Iran are in Group A with Qatar, Uzbekistan, UAE, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea, while South Korea are in Group B with Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait and Palestine.

At the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the AFC has a total of 8 places for direct qualification for the World Cup and 1 place for participation in the play-offs (that is, 8.5 places). According to the rules, the 18 teams that enter the third stage will be divided into 3 groups of 6 teams each, and the top two teams in each group will directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup in 10 rounds of home-and-away double round-robin matches.

A total of 6 teams from the 3rd and 4th places in the three groups will enter the fourth stage of the competition. The six teams will be divided into two groups of three teams each, with the winners of the two groups receiving the remaining two direct tickets to the World Cup. The second place in the group will play a play-off, and the winner will qualify for the intercontinental play-offs.

The third stage of the World Preliminary Tournament will be held between September 2024 and June 2025, with the first round of matches taking place on September 5.

In the same group as Japan, Australia and Sand!

Is there any hope for the national football team to qualify?

Source: People's Daily client review: Ma Xiangyu Editor: Hu Peilin Proofreader: Xie Mingao