The third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia has reached the halfway point. After 5 matches, Japan has won 13 points, 6 points more than the second-placed team, Australia. It is only a matter of time before the team from the land of the rising sun officially gets a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.
After losing to Japan on the evening of November 15, Indonesia fell to the bottom of Group C, with 3 points after 5 matches. Only North Korea (2) and Palestine (2) have won fewer points in the groups of the 3rd Qualifying Round so far. It will be very difficult for Shin Tae-yong and his team to create a miracle in the current situation.
Indonesia will need two more points to become the best performing Southeast Asian team in the third round of World Cup qualifiers.
This record is held by the Vietnam team when they had 4 points after 10 matches in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, finishing bottom of the group. The Thai team also tried this round and only had 2 points in 2018.
The most exciting group is Group A, where the teams are only separated by 3 points. Iran is temporarily leading with 13 points, closely followed by Uzbekistan with 10 points.
The 2022 World Cup hosts and the UAE are both on 7 points, meaning a win would be enough for the teams to significantly change their rankings.
In Group B, South Korea leads with 13 points, 5 points ahead of second-place Jordan. In this group, the gap between Jordan, Iraq and Oman is very close, promising an exciting race for the top 2.
According to the format of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Asia is given more than 8 places, of which: the first 6 official places are given to the 6 teams that finish first and second in the group in the 3rd qualifying round.
The 6 teams ranked 3rd and 4th will continue to participate in the 4th qualifying round to compete for 2 official tickets.
