Discussion Road to Canada , Mexico & USA - 2026 FIFA World Cup
- Thread starter Herbie66
- Start date
Teams that qualified to the third round of qualifying:
Group winners: Qatar, Japan, South Korea, Oman, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Australia
Group runners up: Kuwait, North Korea, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Palestine
No major shocks in which teams made it through. By FIFA ranking India (121) should have progressed ahead of Kuwait (139), Syria (89) over North Korea (118), and Vietnam (115) over Indonesia (134), but they are all close enough in the rankings that you can call them an upset. Jordan finishing ahead of Saudi Arabia in Group G was also a minor ranking upset, despite both qualifying.
I'm assuming Australia will get grouped with two other group winners and three group runner ups, but guess we find out who on the 27th. Really hope we can progress directly and not have to go through further qualifying this time around!
Group winners: Qatar, Japan, South Korea, Oman, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Australia
Group runners up: Kuwait, North Korea, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Palestine
No major shocks in which teams made it through. By FIFA ranking India (121) should have progressed ahead of Kuwait (139), Syria (89) over North Korea (118), and Vietnam (115) over Indonesia (134), but they are all close enough in the rankings that you can call them an upset. Jordan finishing ahead of Saudi Arabia in Group G was also a minor ranking upset, despite both qualifying.
I'm assuming Australia will get grouped with two other group winners and three group runner ups, but guess we find out who on the 27th. Really hope we can progress directly and not have to go through further qualifying this time around!
We needed South Korea to lose their final game , so we became the 3rd highest ranked team on FIFA Rankings (I gather the Top 3 get put in seperate groups).
Be unlucky to get one of Japan , Iran , South Korea + Qatar though.
Iraq , Saudi Arabia , Uzbekistan , Jordan and UAE are all tough.
Top 2 in each group advance direct, 3rd & 4th go through to the 4th Round.
Come 5th or 6th start planning for 2030.
Make sure we win all our home games and try and get a point (at least) in all our away games
Be unlucky to get one of Japan , Iran , South Korea + Qatar though.
Iraq , Saudi Arabia , Uzbekistan , Jordan and UAE are all tough.
Top 2 in each group advance direct, 3rd & 4th go through to the 4th Round.
Come 5th or 6th start planning for 2030.
Make sure we win all our home games and try and get a point (at least) in all our away games
SUBWAY SOCCEROOS’ AFC ASIAN QUALIFIERS™ – ROAD TO 26 – GROUP C FIXTURES*
September 2024 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD1: Subway Socceroos v Bahrain – Thursday, 5 September
MD2: Indonesia v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 10 September
October 2024 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD3: Subway Socceroos v China PR – Thursday, 10 October
MD4: Japan v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 15 October
November 2024 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD5: Subway Socceroos v Saudi Arabia – Thursday, 14 November
MD6: Bahrain v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 19 November
March 2025 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD7: Subway Socceroos v Indonesia – Thursday, 20 March
MD8: China PR v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 25 March
June 2025 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD9: Subway Socceroos v Japan – Thursday, 5 June
MD10: Saudi Arabia v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 10 June
September 2024 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD1: Subway Socceroos v Bahrain – Thursday, 5 September
MD2: Indonesia v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 10 September
October 2024 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD3: Subway Socceroos v China PR – Thursday, 10 October
MD4: Japan v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 15 October
November 2024 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD5: Subway Socceroos v Saudi Arabia – Thursday, 14 November
MD6: Bahrain v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 19 November
March 2025 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD7: Subway Socceroos v Indonesia – Thursday, 20 March
MD8: China PR v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 25 March
June 2025 FIFA Men’s International Window
MD9: Subway Socceroos v Japan – Thursday, 5 June
MD10: Saudi Arabia v Subway Socceroos – Tuesday, 10 June
GROUPS - Third round
Group A: Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, UAE, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea
Group B: South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait
Group C: Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia
The top two teams of each group qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup, the third and fourth-placed teams advance to the fourth round.
Fourth round: Six third and fourth-placed teams from the third round are divided into two groups of three teams each. The teams will play against each other once in a neutral venue. The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup, and the runners-up of each group advance to the fifth round.
Fifth round: The group runners-up in the fourth round will compete home-and-away over two legs to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation play-o***.[2]
Group A: Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, UAE, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea
Group B: South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait
Group C: Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia
The top two teams of each group qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup, the third and fourth-placed teams advance to the fourth round.
Fourth round: Six third and fourth-placed teams from the third round are divided into two groups of three teams each. The teams will play against each other once in a neutral venue. The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup, and the runners-up of each group advance to the fifth round.
Fifth round: The group runners-up in the fourth round will compete home-and-away over two legs to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation play-o***.[2]
Glad I didn't switch to this. No goals up to the 89th minute, then we finally score... an own goal. Yengi copped a red card too to make the game even worse. 11 shots to 3, and over 70% possession. Wouldn't surprise me if Bahrain played with 10 defenders all match, but it looks to have worked for them.
We don't deserve to qualify if we put in that sort of an effort against the 80th ranked team at home. We still will qualify eventually, seeing so many teams make it through this time, but that should have been a win if we were a serious threat of doing anything.
Edit: Japan winning 7:0 in another group match v China showing how it's meant to be done.
We don't deserve to qualify if we put in that sort of an effort against the 80th ranked team at home. We still will qualify eventually, seeing so many teams make it through this time, but that should have been a win if we were a serious threat of doing anything.
Edit: Japan winning 7:0 in another group match v China showing how it's meant to be done.
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Yeah it wasn't pretty... Bahrain defended most of the match and then started rolling around on the ground in agony every time they were breathed on. Australia looked slow and struggled to create much outside of set pieces.
Fortunately for Australia, Saudi Arabia drew with Indonesia so it may not hurt us too badly. But need to improve massively.
Fortunately for Australia, Saudi Arabia drew with Indonesia so it may not hurt us too badly. But need to improve massively.