The Asian Football Confederation officially announced that the draw for the third round of the joint qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the 27th of this month. The draw will be held at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur Hotel, and the AFC has invited the media to register to attend the draw ceremony, which will begin determining the fate of the eight teams qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, as well as the 18 teams for the 2027 Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia. Several teams have guaranteed qualification to the third round of the World Cup qualifiers. Although there are two remaining rounds of the second stage, which will take place on the 6th and 11th of this month, (10 points), led by our national team, which leads the first group with 12 points, and Japan also leads the second group with 12 points, Iran and Uzbekistan, the fifth group, Iraq, the sixth group (12 points), and the Emirates, the eighth group. 10 points and Australia, Group Nine, 12 points.
The 18 teams that qualify for this stage will be distributed into three groups, with each group including six teams, and the first two teams from each group will qualify directly to the 2026 World Cup, while the remaining two direct seats for the Asian continent will be determined through the continental playoff, while there will be an opportunity For an additional seat through the global supplement.
On the other hand, our national team continues its training under the leadership of its Spanish coach, Marquez Lopez, in preparation for the match against Afghanistan next Thursday, within the second stage of the qualifiers, which is scheduled to be held in the city of Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. Our team concludes its journey with the ongoing 11th qualifier against India in Doha.
Lopez is focusing on achieving understanding and harmony between the players, especially since the new list, which included 29 players, included a large number of young players and players representing Annabi for the first time after the coach’s decision to rest most of the key players who made a great effort this season with Annabi until they were crowned champions of the 2023 Asian Cup for the second time. In its history, and at the beginning of the double qualifiers, Annabi even secured qualification to Asia 2027 and the third stage of the World Cup qualifiers.
It is known that Al-Annabi will leave for Al-Ahsa next Wednesday, where he will face Afghanistan on Thursday, before returning to Doha to continue preparing to meet India in the final round.
