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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round

The AFC first round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, which also served as the first round of 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification, was played from 12 to 17 October 2023.

Format

A total of twenty teams were drawn into ten home-and-away ties, the winners of which advanced to the second round. As the second round draw occurred on the same date as the first round draw, each winner already knew their second round schedule.

Schedule

The schedule was as follows:

Draw

The draw for the first round was held on 27 July 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

These 20 teams were divided into ten pairings, with each pair playing home and away across 12 and 17 October 2023. The numbers in parentheses indicate the FIFA Men's World Ranking of July 2023.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.

Summary

The ten winners advanced to the second round of qualifying.

Matches

Afghanistan won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Bangladesh won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Singapore won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Yemen won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Myanmar won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Pakistan won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Chinese Taipei won 7–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Indonesia won 12–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Hong Kong won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Nepal won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Ranking of best losing teams

The first round doubled as preliminary qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. As originally planned, the top-ranked losing team would progress directly to the third round of Asian Cup qualifying, while the remainder would join the Northern Mariana Islands in the play-off round. However, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands were not included in the draw for the play-off round announced on 1 May 2024. This resulted in the top three losing teams (Bhutan, Maldives, and Laos) moving directly to the third round, and the remaining six teams entering the play-off round.