Analysis of the Asian promotion situation of the World Preliminaries: 7 teams have qualified in advance, and the national football team has the initiative to qualify
After the fourth round of the second stage of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers, there are already 7 teams from Qatar, Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Australia who have qualified for the second round in advance;
A total of 36 teams participated in the second stage of the group stage, these 36 teams were divided into 9 groups of 4 teams each, and the 4 teams played a double round-robin home and away match with each other, a total of 6 rounds of group stage, and the top two teams in the group advanced to the round of 18 in the third stage and qualified for the 2027 Asian Cup finals. The group stage is ranked by points, goal difference, and total goals, and if two or more teams have the same data, the final ranking will be determined by comparing the match points, goal difference, and total goals scored between these teams. The following is an analysis of the specific qualifying situation of the nine groups.
Group A: Qatar 12 points, India 4 points, Afghanistan 4 points, Kuwait 3 points. Qatar has won all four games, already 8 points ahead of the second place in the group, and locked the first place in the group two rounds in advance, showing the strong strength of the team. India, Afghanistan and Kuwait are only one point separating each other, and while they all have a chance of qualifying, it is actually Kuwait who are at the bottom of the table with the best chance of qualifying, as they have already played two legs against Qatar. The other qualifying spot in this group may not be determined until all matches have been played.
Group B: Japan 9 points, Syria 7 points, North Korea 3 points, Myanmar 1 point. Due to the cancellation of the North Korean team's home match against Japan and will not be rescheduled, FIFA officials are likely to announce that the North Korean team lost 0:3 to the Japanese team in this match. In this way, the Japanese team will top the group with 12 points from four wins and advance to the first two rounds. Since North Korea's last two games are also at home against Syria and Myanmar, it is uncertain whether they will be able to play normally, so there are many uncertainties in the last two rounds of the group stage. However, judging from the current group points and the first two rounds of matches, the other qualifying place in this group is likely to belong to Syria.
Group C: South Korea 10 points, China 7 points, Thailand 4 points, Singapore 1 point. Since South Korea is 6 points ahead of Thailand and has a goal difference of 13, unless there is a big accident in the last two rounds, in fact, South Korea has already appeared two rounds in advance, and the last place in the group will be between the national football team and the Thai team. The national football team will face the Thai team at home in the 5th round, and if it wins, it can advance to the first round; if it is drawn, then as long as the final round does not lose to the South Korean team or Singapore does not lose to the Thai team away, it can qualify, even if the national football team loses to South Korea away and Singapore loses to the Thai team away, the difference between the two teams on 3 goal difference will be reversed, and the national football team will be out; if the national football team loses to the Thai team at home in the 5th round, then the final round must win away against the South Korean team to advance.
Group D: Kyrgyzstan 9 points, Oman 9 points, Malaysia 6 points, Chinese Taipei 0 points. After 4 rounds, no team in this group has been able to advance in advance, and only Chinese Taipei has been eliminated in advance. Kyrgyzstan and Oman have the best chance of qualifying, they not only lead in points, but also have a goal difference of 6, Malaysia is not only behind in points, but also has a goal difference of minus 2, and it will be extremely difficult to turn the tables.
Group E: Iran 10 points, Uzbekistan 10 points, Turkmenistan 1 point, Hong Kong China 1 point. Iran and Uzbekistan have remained unchanged in the first four rounds with three wins and one draw, with the only draws coming from each other, winning against other group teams and qualifying for the second round two rounds earlier. Iran hosts Uzbekistan in the final round of fixtures that will be a battle for the top spot in the group between the two teams.
Group F: Iraq 12 points, Indonesia 7 points, Vietnam 3 points, Philippines 1 point. Iraq has already qualified two rounds ahead of schedule with all four wins, and the final spot will be between Indonesia and Vietnam. Although the Indonesian team is only ranked 142nd in the world, after successfully naturalizing the 3 million euro Heerenveen midfielder Haye and the 1.4 million euro Venice defender Ezes, the team's strength has increased greatly, not only beating Vietnam twice, but also the total value of the starting lineup that beat Vietnam 3:0 in the last round has reached 7.12 million euros, even exceeding the starting lineup of the national football team of 1.32 million euros. In addition, Indonesia has become the team with the most goals in the second group stage with 18 goals, as long as there is no continuous overturning, Indonesia will get another qualifying place in the group, and the future national football team has one more fierce opponent.
Group G: Saudi Arabia 10 points, Jordan 7 points, Tajikistan 5 points, Pakistan 0 points. Saudi Arabia is unbeaten with 3 wins and 1 draw, not only leading the points, but also holding 7 goal difference, as long as the 5th round does not lose to Pakistan, which is at the bottom of the group, it can qualify for the first round in advance. The other qualifying spot in the group will be between Jordan and Tajikistan, and if Jordan can win at home to Tajikistan in the next round, they will also qualify one round earlier, otherwise the suspense of promotion will be left until the final round.
Group H: UAE 12 points, Bahrain 9 points, Yemen 3 points, Nepal 0 points. The UAE lead the group standings with four wins, have already qualified two rounds ahead of schedule, and will undoubtedly top the group. Even if Bahrain loses two consecutive games in the last two rounds and Yemen wins two in a row, it is difficult to eliminate the current goal difference of as many as 12 between the two teams, so Bahrain has actually advanced in advance.
Group I: Australia 12 points, Palestine 7 points, Lebanon 2 points, Bangladesh 1 point. Australia has won all four games, scored 15 goals without conceding one, and has won the group two rounds ahead of schedule and successfully qualified. Palestine can qualify one round earlier if they don't lose at home to Lebanon in the fifth round, but if Palestine loses at home to Lebanon in the fifth round, the balance of victory could tip in Lebanon's favor, considering that Palestine will face the strongest Australia in the sixth round and Lebanon will face Bangladesh at home.
Note: The picture comes from the Internet.