AFC slots to be increased to 8.5 from FIFA World Cup 2026

There were previously 4.5 slots for the continent at the mega event.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 will ring in major changes after confirming that it will be increased to a 48-team tournament. As a result, the Asian Football Conferation (AFC) is going to have their number of teams increased to 8.5.

This will be almost double of what it was available until the 2022 Qatar World Cup edition (4.5). FIFA has decided to increase the number of teams to make the World Cup bigger and more inclusive. Of course, this can be a major turning point for India’s hopes of qualifying for the major tournament.

Not just the Blue Tigers, but many other Asian national teams will be encouraged by this change. An almost double of the AFC teams will participate  in the grandest stage from the 2026 edition. They’ll also get a chance to increase the continent’s reputation.

But what exactly is the new qualification format for the World Cup qualifiers for AFC members going forward? The governing body has revealed that as well. The FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification will comprise of four different rounds. Here is how it will go.

Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1

The first preliminary qualification round will involve teams ranked 26 to 47 (in the AFC rankings). These 22 teams wil face each other in home and away format, with the 11 winners progressing to the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2. India are currently ranked within the top 25, so they won’t have to play in this.

Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2

This will be a bigger qualification stage involving 36 teams. That will be comprised of the 11 winners from the previous qualification round and the top 25 ranked AFC teams. These will be divided into nine groups of four teams each.  The teams will face each other in a round-robin, home and away format. From each group, two teams – 18 in total – will qualify for the AFC Asian qualifiers.

https://youtu.be/wJJGKU2Jpb0

AFC Asian Qualifiers

The 18 qualified teams from the previous round will play in this. There will be three groups of six teams – again competing in a round-rob, home and away format. The top two teams from the three groups will then directly qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Asian Playoff

For the third and fourth-placed teams from those group, the hopes will not be over. The remaining six teams will be drawn in two groups of three each, competing in a single round-robin style. The two first-placed teams from the groups will qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup. The second-placed teams from the two groups will compete in a playoff match that determines which side represents AFC in the Intercontinental Playoff. This playoff will happen against a nation from another continent and decide whether AFC gets the 9th team in the World Cup.

Conclusion

All in all, this news should be one to be excited for Indian football. This will mark their biggest opportunity to qualify for the World Cup in the modern era. But a larger focus has to be given to the development of the national team. That involves setting up more international friendlies against challenging opponents, a larger national camp period and top-class facilities.