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AFC qualifying thread

Kitwally said:
Ok. I stand corrected. I think there was 9 minutes of stoppage time though, and should have been more?
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9 was fine and they played a bit longer due to delays. Ref was decent.
 
@NicCarBel, which thread had the intercontinental playoff rolling predictions?

In the meantime I'll just mention here New Caledonia beat Gibraltar in a friendly. It'd be a miracle for them to qualify.
 
United Arab Emirates defeated Oman 2-1 and Graham Arnold got a 1-0 win with 10-man Iraq over Indonesia on matchday 2 of the AFC fourth round qualifiers.
 
JS96 said:
@NicCarBel, which thread had the intercontinental playoff rolling predictions?

In the meantime I'll just mention here New Caledonia beat Gibraltar in a friendly. It'd be a miracle for them to qualify.
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I think I put in the UEFA one - will probs do an update after Wednesday night / International window is over
 
AFC (last day of Fourth Round - final direct spots)
  1. UAE will qualify with at least a draw against Qatar
    1. Qatar will qualify with victory over UAE
  2. Saudi Arabia will qualify with at least a draw against Iraq
    1. Iraq will qualify with victory over Iraq
 
NicCarBel

Post in thread 'WC 2026 Seedings'

I can't be bothered looking for the original - will update and copypasta this post sometime tomorrow, and then again on Wednesday afternoon (after all qualifiers for this window are complete)

CURRENT PROJECTED QUALIFICATION SLOTS (based SOLELY off Current Group Standings, and then FIFA Rankings to decide playoff participants/winners/etc

Bold = already qualified for that stage/World Cup finals
Pots + rankings to come after work (and playoff paths, I might try and work that out too as best I can)

CURRENT as of 14/10/2025 3pm AEDT

CONCACAF
  1. USA (16)
  2. Canada...
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Saudi Iraq nil all -- Saudi qualify and Iraq through to 5th round knockout
Qatar 2 UAE 1 -- Qatar qualify and UAE though to 5th round knockout

8 AFC teams arenow qualified and the Winner of Iraq/UAE in November proceeds to the inter-continental playoffs
 
The Asian Game podcast - Wednesday October 15th (host: Sudesh Baniya).

Guests:
James Montague reporting from Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium (Qatar v United Arab Emirates)
Michael Church reporting from King Abdullah Sports City Stadium (Saudi Arabia v Iraq)

 
JS96 said:
www.facebook.com

2.3M views · 19K reactions | Tensions spilled over at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium as celebrations turned confrontational during Qatar’s 2-1 win over the UAE on Tuesday. This moment shows how the clash began, with objects hurled toward Qatari players. Se

Tensions spilled over at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium as celebrations turned confrontational during Qatar’s 2-1 win over the UAE on Tuesday. This moment shows how the clash began, with objects hurled...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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Bidda Biffo !!
 
erogenouszone said:
www.singletonargus.com.au

Arnold blasts format as Iraq miss automatic qualifying

Iraq coach Graham Arnold and Oman mentor Carlos Queiroz have both criticised the Asian World Cup qualifying scheduling...
www.singletonargus.com.au www.singletonargus.com.au

You got that right Arnie. Saudi/Qatar getting a favourable draw, well I'm shocked.
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I would adjust the process slightly for 2030 qualifiers if it stays at 48 teams and 8 direct qualifiers from Asia.

Top 2 * 3 groups in the 3rd round are the first 6 to qualify (unchanged).

Instead of 6 teams (3*3rd place and 3*4th place) moving to the 4th round cut it back to 4 teams (3*3rd and best 4th place only).

Then the 4th round can be 2 legged with the 2 winners qualifying on merit and the 5th round can also be 2 legged between the 4th round losers.

It would mean no 3 team groups with home field advantage to the better/more powerful teams and hopefully less mediocre 4th place teams stinking up the format.
 
GoAussies said:
I would adjust the process slightly for 2030 qualifiers if it stays at 48 teams and 8 direct qualifiers from Asia.

Top 2 * 3 groups in the 3rd round are the first 6 to qualify (unchanged).

Instead of 6 teams (3*3rd place and 3*4th place) moving to the 4th round cut it back to 4 teams (3*3rd and best 4th place only).

Then the 4th round can be 2 legged with the 2 winners qualifying on merit and the 5th round can also be 2 legged between the 4th round losers.

It would mean no 3 team groups with home field advantage to the better/more powerful teams and hopefully less mediocre 4th place teams stinking up the format.
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How about just having 4 groups with the top 2 go through to the WC and the four 3rd place teams play off for the intercontinental play off spot.
 
NoMates said:
How about just having 4 groups with the top 2 go through to the WC and the four 3rd place teams play off for the intercontinental play off spot.
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Definitely an option but personally given Asia's lack of depth I prefer 3 groups of 6 (18 teams) to either 4 groups of 5 (20 teams) or 4 groups of 6 (24 teams) during the 3rd round. While 4 groups of 4 (16 teams each playing 6 games) isn't enough games.
 
GoAussies said:
Definitely an option but personally given Asia's lack of depth I prefer 3 groups of 6 (18 teams) to either 4 groups of 5 (20 teams) or 4 groups of 6 (24 teams) during the 3rd round. While 4 groups of 4 (16 teams each playing 6 games) isn't enough games.
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I would be comfortable with 4 groups of 4. This would free up a part of the calendar after the Asian Cup without the need to start Asian Cup qualifiers straight away. This means you have round 1 (2 games) round 2 (6 games) round 3 (6 games) round 4 (2 games). Teams eliminated in round 1 & 2 play Asian Cup qualifiers as now and round 4 consist of a 4 team playoff of the 3rd placed teams at a neutral venue (unless of course one of the favoured nations is there). With the current FIFA schedule you can have round 4 in the Nov 29 window, Round 3 played in the June and Sept/October 29 windows (4 matches in the second window) Round 2 in Sept/Oct 28 and Nov 28 (leave March 29 as a spare and some friendlies) and round 1 in June 28. Asian Cup qualifiers for eliminated teams can be played in 2030. This setup would leave ample room for an Asian Nations league style tournament played over the windows from June 27 to March 28. There would still be a few friendly windows available.
 
GoAussies said:
I would adjust the process slightly for 2030 qualifiers if it stays at 48 teams and 8 direct qualifiers from Asia.

Top 2 * 3 groups in the 3rd round are the first 6 to qualify (unchanged).

Instead of 6 teams (3*3rd place and 3*4th place) moving to the 4th round cut it back to 4 teams (3*3rd and best 4th place only).

Then the 4th round can be 2 legged with the 2 winners qualifying on merit and the 5th round can also be 2 legged between the 4th round losers.

It would mean no 3 team groups with home field advantage to the better/more powerful teams and hopefully less mediocre 4th place teams stinking up the format.
Click to expand...
NoMates said:
How about just having 4 groups with the top 2 go through to the WC and the four 3rd place teams play off for the intercontinental play off spot.
Click to expand...
Alex M said:
I would be comfortable with 4 groups of 4. This would free up a part of the calendar after the Asian Cup without the need to start Asian Cup qualifiers straight away. This means you have round 1 (2 games) round 2 (6 games) round 3 (6 games) round 4 (2 games). Teams eliminated in round 1 & 2 play Asian Cup qualifiers as now and round 4 consist of a 4 team playoff of the 3rd placed teams at a neutral venue (unless of course one of the favoured nations is there). With the current FIFA schedule you can have round 4 in the Nov 29 window, Round 3 played in the June and Sept/October 29 windows (4 matches in the second window) Round 2 in Sept/Oct 28 and Nov 28 (leave March 29 as a spare and some friendlies) and round 1 in June 28. Asian Cup qualifiers for eliminated teams can be played in 2030. This setup would leave ample room for an Asian Nations league style tournament played over the windows from June 27 to March 28. There would still be a few friendly windows available.
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NicCarBel

Thread 'Restructuring FIFA (World Cup Qualifiers and Confederation Members)'

I've had across a few of the qualification threads referring to how, if I had my way, would restructure FIFA (in terms of member make up and confederation structures) in relation to the World Cup and it's qualifiers. So figured having a central spot for all of this would be better (plus, it allows me to have more of a back up then my word doc, that I can access on my phone if I ever want to discuss with anyone).

I've essentially narrowed down to two options, where I've gone into a bit of detail about the members, qualification make up, etc below. But, the TLDR of the two options are...
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