Asian qualifying for the 2026 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup begins today.
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and the 12-day Asian qualifiers are the first round.스포츠토토
The first round of qualifying consists of 20 countries with lower FIFA rankings playing home-and-away matches on the 12th and 17th, with the winner advancing to the second round.
South Korea will play in the second round starting in November, and the first round will determine who will be in the same group as South Korea in the second round.
Of the 10 matchups in the first round, the winner of the Singapore-Guam game will be placed in Group C with Korea in the second round.
South Korea will play the winner of the Singapore-Guam match on Nov. 16 in the first round of the second qualifier.
On paper, either Singapore or Guam will not have much of an impact on the outcome, but once the second game is over on Nov. 17, Korea will know who they will play in their first game of the second round in November.
South Korea will play the winner of the Singapore-Guam match along with China and Thailand in Group C of the second round of qualifying. They will play a home game against either Singapore or Guam on November 16, followed by a second game away to China on November 21.
If the team finishes in the top two in the second round, they will qualify for the next Asian Cup and advance to the third round of World Cup qualifying.
The third round of World Cup qualifying is divided into three groups of six nations, with the top two finishers in each group qualifying for the World Cup.
The 2026 World Cup in North and Central America will increase the number of qualifying nations to 48, and the number of tickets allocated to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to 8.5.
After the third round of qualifying, the remaining 2.5 tickets will be awarded through the fourth, fifth, and continental playoffs.
About the author