The final round of the second qualifying stage for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian region saw 18 matches played simultaneously on June 11th. From these matches, the organizers determined the final five teams to qualify for the third round.
Accordingly, the five teams that secured the final qualifying spots are Indonesia, North Korea, Kuwait, China, and Kyrgyzstan . Almost no surprises occurred, as the teams considered to have a better chance before the final matchday secured their places. Only Kuwait managed to "squeeze through the narrow gap," moving from fourth place in Group A to second and securing their qualification after a 1-0 victory against Afghanistan.
Indonesia's qualification also means that Vietnam cannot continue their journey in this World Cup qualifying round, as the two teams are directly competing for a spot in Group F. The team from the archipelago is also the only representative of Southeast Asian football in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Previously, 13 other teams had already qualified for the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region: Qatar, Japan, South Korea, Oman, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Australia, and Palestine.
The 18 teams that qualified for the third round of the 2026 World Cup have also officially secured their tickets to the 2027 Asian Cup finals. The teams will be divided into three groups of six, playing a round-robin format to determine the top two teams from each group that will qualify for the World Cup finals in North America. The draw for the group stage will take place on June 27th.
Source: https://vov.vn/the-thao/danh-list-18-teams-into-the-third-round-of-the-2026-world-cup-qualifying-round-invalid-vietnam-national-team-post1100950.vov
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