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2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round

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2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round
Tournament details
Dates25 March 2025 – 31 March 2026
Teams24 (from 1 confederation)
← 2023
2031 →

The third round of 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification will be played from 25 March 2025 to 31 March 2026.[1]

Format

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A total of 24 teams (3 best ranked losing teams from the first round + 18 third and fourth-placed teams from the second round + 3 winners from the play-off round) will participate in the third round to compete for the final six slots in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

The 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. Only the group winners of each group will qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, where they will join the 18 teams which qualified directly from the second round.[1]

Qualified teams

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Best-ranked losing teams from the first round:

Teams finishing third or fourth in their respective second round groups:

Play-off round winners:

Seeding

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The draw was held on 9 December 2024 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,[2] at 15:00 (UTC+8). The teams were drawn into six groups of four teams each, with the seeding based on the November 2024 FIFA World Rankings.

FIFA Rankings as of 28 November 2024[3]
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  1.  Syria (95)
  2.  Thailand (97)
  3.  Tajikistan (104)
  4.  Lebanon (112)
  5.  Vietnam (116)
  6.  India (127)
  1.  Malaysia (132)
  2.  Turkmenistan (143)
  3.  Philippines (149)
  4.  Afghanistan (155)
  5.  Hong Kong (156)
  6.  Yemen (158)
  1.  Singapore (161)
  2.  Maldives (162)
  3.  Chinese Taipei (165)
  4.  Myanmar (167)
  5.    Nepal (175)
  6.  Bhutan (182)
  1.  Brunei (184)
  2.  Bangladesh (185)
  3.  Laos (186)
  4.  East Timor (196)
  5.  Pakistan (198)
  6.  Sri Lanka (200)

Schedule

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The schedule of each matchday is as follows.[4][5]

Matchday Dates Matches
Matchday 1 25 March 2025 1 v 4, 3 v 2
Matchday 2 10 June 2025 4 v 3, 2 v 1
Matchday 3 9 October 2025 4 v 2, 1 v 3
Matchday 4 14 October 2025 2 v 4, 3 v 1
Matchday 5 18 November 2025 4 v 1, 2 v 3
Matchday 6 31 March 2026 1 v 2, 3 v 4

Groups

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The winner of each group will qualify for the final tournament, joining the 18 teams that qualified directly (including the host).

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers will be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 7.3):[6]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying criteria 1 to 3, a subset of teams is still tied, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they meet in the last round of the group;
  8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
  9. Drawing of lots.

Group A

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Tajikistan Philippines Maldives East Timor
1  Tajikistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2027 AFC Asian Cup — 31 Mar '26 9 Oct 25 Mar
2  Philippines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Jun — 18 Nov 14 Oct
3  Maldives 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct 25 Mar — 31 Mar '26
4  East Timor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 9 Oct 10 Jun —
First match(es) will be played: 25 March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Tajikistan v East Timor
Maldives v Philippines
East Timor v Maldives
Philippines v Tajikistan
East Timor v Philippines
Maldives v Tajikistan
Philippines v East Timor
Tajikistan v Maldives
East Timor v Tajikistan
Philippines v Maldives
Tajikistan v Philippines
Maldives v East Timor

Group B

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Lebanon Yemen Bhutan Brunei
1  Lebanon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2027 AFC Asian Cup — 31 Mar '26 9 Oct 25 Mar
2  Yemen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Jun — 18 Nov 14 Oct
3  Bhutan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct 25 Mar — 31 Mar '26
4  Brunei 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 9 Oct 10 Jun —
First match(es) will be played: 25 March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Lebanon v Brunei
Bhutan v Yemen
Brunei v Bhutan
Yemen v Lebanon
Brunei v Yemen
Bhutan v Lebanon
Yemen v Brunei
Lebanon v Bhutan
Brunei v Lebanon
Yemen v Bhutan
Lebanon v Yemen
Bhutan v Brunei

Group C

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification India Hong Kong Singapore Bangladesh
1  India 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2027 AFC Asian Cup — 31 Mar '26 9 Oct 25 Mar
2  Hong Kong 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Jun — 18 Nov 14 Oct
3  Singapore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct 25 Mar — 31 Mar '26
4  Bangladesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 9 Oct 10 Jun —
First match(es) will be played: 25 March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
India v Bangladesh
Singapore v Hong Kong
Bangladesh v Singapore
Hong Kong v India
Bangladesh v Hong Kong
India v Singapore
TBD, India
Hong Kong v Bangladesh
Singapore v India
Bangladesh v India
Hong Kong v Singapore
India v Hong Kong
TBD, India
Singapore v Bangladesh

Group D

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Thailand Turkmenistan Chinese Taipei Sri Lanka
1  Thailand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2027 AFC Asian Cup — 31 Mar '26 9 Oct 25 Mar
2  Turkmenistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Jun — 18 Nov 14 Oct
3  Chinese Taipei 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct 25 Mar — 31 Mar '26
4  Sri Lanka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 9 Oct 10 Jun —
First match(es) will be played: 25 March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Thailand v Sri Lanka
Chinese Taipei v Turkmenistan
Sri Lanka v Chinese Taipei
Turkmenistan v Thailand
Sri Lanka v Turkmenistan
Chinese Taipei v Thailand
Turkmenistan v Sri Lanka
Thailand v Chinese Taipei
Sri Lanka v Thailand
Turkmenistan v Chinese Taipei
Thailand v Turkmenistan
Chinese Taipei v Sri Lanka

Group E

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Syria Afghanistan Myanmar Pakistan
1  Syria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2027 AFC Asian Cup — 31 Mar '26 9 Oct 25 Mar
2  Afghanistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Jun — 18 Nov 14 Oct
3  Myanmar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct 25 Mar — 31 Mar '26
4  Pakistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 9 Oct 10 Jun —
First match(es) will be played: 25 March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Syria v Pakistan
Myanmar v Afghanistan
Pakistan v Myanmar
Afghanistan v Syria
Pakistan v Afghanistan
Myanmar v Syria
Afghanistan v Pakistan
Syria v Myanmar
Pakistan v Syria
Afghanistan v Myanmar
Syria v Afghanistan
Myanmar v Pakistan

Group F

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Vietnam Malaysia Nepal Laos
1  Vietnam 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2027 AFC Asian Cup — 31 Mar '26 9 Oct 25 Mar
2  Malaysia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Jun — 18 Nov 14 Oct
3    Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct 25 Mar — 31 Mar '26
4  Laos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 9 Oct 10 Jun —
First match(es) will be played: 25 March 2025. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Vietnam v Laos
Nepal   v Malaysia
Laos v   Nepal
Malaysia v Vietnam
Laos v Malaysia
Vietnam v   Nepal
Malaysia v Laos
Nepal   v Vietnam
Laos v Vietnam
Malaysia v   Nepal
Vietnam v Malaysia
TBD, Vietnam
Nepal   v Laos

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Timor-Leste will play their home games outside the country, due to the National Stadium in Dili failing to meet FIFA standards.
  2. ^ a b c Lebanon will be required to play all their home matches at a neutral venue due to the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict.
  3. ^ a b c Yemen will be required to play their home matches at a neutral venue due to the ongoing Yemeni civil war.
  4. ^ a b c Syria will be required to play their home matches at a neutral venue due to the ongoing Syrian civil war.
  5. ^ a b c Afghanistan will be required to play their home matches at a neutral venue due to the ongoing Afghan conflict.

References

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  1. ^ a b "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". AFC. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Asian Football Calendar (December 2024 – November 2025)". The AFC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  3. ^ "FIFA Men's World Ranking – November 2024". fifa.com. FIFA. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  4. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar (Jul 2024 - Jun 2025)" (PDF). AFC.
  5. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar (Jul 2025 - Jun 2026)" (PDF). AFC.
  6. ^ "AFC Asian Cup 2027 Saudi Arabia Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC. 9 August 2024. p. 25.
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