In the early morning of June 11 (Vietnam time), the final matches in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia have ended.
With a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia, Australia is the last team to win a direct ticket to the biggest football festival on the planet taking place next year. They, along with Japan, are the two representatives of Group C qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
In Group B, South Korea and Jordan are leading with a rather tight gap from the remaining teams. In contrast to Group A, Iran and Uzbekistan are far ahead of the remaining group with a gap of 8 and 6 points respectively. This is also the first time in history that Uzbekistan has qualified for the World Cup.
In addition to the 6 Asian representatives, there are only 2 teams that have guaranteed tickets to the World Cup, except for the co- host countries of Canada, Mexico and the US. In South America, Argentina is the first team to secure a place in the tournament. In the Atlantic, this is the first time FIFA has allocated this region a place in the final round. New Zealand has won this valuable ticket.
The 2026 World Cup is also the first time the tournament has been expanded from 32 to 48 teams. FIFA has approved a group stage format with 12 groups, each group has 4 teams. The top two teams and the 8 third-placed teams with the best results will qualify for the round of 32.
