Two brand new Asian teams to compete in the 2026 World Cup

After the 9th round of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, Asia has 3 more teams winning tickets to the final round, including 2 names participating in the World Cup for the first time.

Jordan wins first World Cup ticket - Photo: AFC

The three latest teams to qualify for the 2026 World Cup are South Korea, Jordan (Group B) and Uzbekistan (Group A).

In the 9th match on the morning of June 6, South Korea and Jordan defeated Iraq (2-0) and Oman (3-0) respectively to share the top 2 positions in Group B.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan drew 0-0 with UAE to gain enough points to finish in the top 2 teams of Group A (along with Iran).

These three teams, along with the two teams that previously won tickets to the 2026 World Cup, Japan and Iran, have determined 5/6 official spots in Asia to go to North America next summer.

Asia has one more official ticket to the World Cup. That will be the competition between Saudi Arabia and Australia (Group C). In the last round, the two teams will meet to decide the ticket to the World Cup. Australia has the advantage in terms of points as they only need a draw to get a direct ticket to North America.

Of the five teams mentioned above, history calls Uzbekistan and Jordan when they qualified for the World Cup for the first time. For Uzbekistan, this is an impressive achievement after a long period of investing in the development of youth football in this country. In the past few years, Uzbekistan has been a "monster" in Asian youth football tournaments.

For Jordan, the ticket to the 2026 World Cup continues the success after reaching the final of the 2023 Asian Cup. Thus, Jordan and Uzbekistan will become the 14th and 15th Asian countries to participate in the World Cup.

Previously, Asia had 13 countries participating in the World Cup: South Korea, Japan, Iran, Australia, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Indonesia (Dutch East Indies), Israel (moved to Europe), Kuwait, Iraq, UAE, China, and Qatar.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has now confirmed nine participating teams. Asia (5): Iran, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, Uzbekistan. Three host teams: USA, Mexico and Canada. South America (1): Argentina. Oceania (1): New Zealand.

In addition to the teams competing directly for tickets, the Asian World Cup play-off round has also determined some names to participate: UAE, Qatar (Group A), Iraq (Group B), Indonesia (Group C). The remaining 2 teams in the play-off round will be determined after the 10th round of matches.

In the play-off round, the 6 third and fourth-placed teams from the 3 groups will be divided into 2 groups (3 teams each). The teams will play a round-robin (home and away) to select the 2 group winners to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The 2 second-placed teams from the 2 groups will play a play-off (home and away) to select the team representing Asia to compete in the intercontinental play-off. The winner of the intercontinental play-off will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hai-doi-bong-chau-a-moi-toanh-du-world-cup-2026-20250606095253855.htm