The draw for the AFC final round of qualifiers for the 2026 Men’s World Cup was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on THU 27 JUN 2024. The 18 teams were drawn into three groups of six, from which six teams will qualify, and another six will move on to the repechage playoffs.

On paper, the most challenging group appears to be Group C, featuring three of the six teams who qualified for Qatar 2022: Australia, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Group A sees Iran and Uzbekistan go head to head again after meeting one another in the first group phase. Iraq, perhaps with their best chance of returning to the Men’s World Cup for the first time in forty years, must go through Korea Rep and Jordan in Group B.

The final round begins on THU 05 SEP 2024. Teams in each group play one another twice. The top two teams in each group qualify directly for Canada​/Mexico/​United States 2026. The third and fourth placed teams will advance to the repechage to play for two more automatic places, plus one place in the playoffs.

• Group A: Iran, Korea DPR, Kyrgyz Rep, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan
• Group B: Iraq, Jordan, Korea Rep, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine
• Group C: Australia, Bahrain, China PR, Indonesia, Japan, Saudi Arabia