On July 1, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Council meeting took place to agree on the time and plan to organize the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Vietnam team will not have to participate in the first qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup
At the same time, the meeting also announced the number of places for the 2026 World Cup in Asia.
Accordingly, the first qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia includes 20-22 participating teams, divided into 10 or 11 pairs, based on the rankings of the teams (ranked from 26-47 in Asia).
The first qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia will take place from October 12 to 17, 2023.
According to the latest FIFA rankings, the Vietnamese team is ranked 15th in Asia and will start from the second qualifying round of the biggest football festival on the planet.
The second qualifying round will feature 36 teams (25 or 26 wildcards and 10-11 first-round qualifiers), running from 16 November 2023 to 11 June 2024.
36 teams are divided into 9 groups, playing a double round-robin (home and away). The top two teams in each group will advance to the third qualifying round.
In this stage, 18 teams will be divided into 3 groups, each group of 6 teams and play 2 rounds of points (home - away), starting from September 5, 2024 - June 10, 2025.
The top two teams in each group (6 teams) will qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The third and fourth-placed teams (6 teams) will continue to the fourth qualifying round.
The 6 teams participating in the fourth qualifying round are divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each, playing a round-robin tournament on neutral ground, taking place between October and November 2025.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the two third-placed teams will play in the Asian play-offs.
The winner of the Asian play-off will enter the intercontinental play-off to secure a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.
Thus, the Asian region will have a total of 8 direct tickets to the 2026 World Cup and 1 intercontinental play-off ticket.
Previously, the team under coach Park Hang-seo had reached the third qualifying round of the 2023 World Cup but could not create any surprises.
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