The beginning of the Subway Socceroos' qualification journey for the FIFA World Cup 2026TM has been confirmed, following a Draw Ceremony for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Qualifiers at AFC House, Kuala Lumpur this evening.
As a result of their current ranking within the Confederation, ranked #3, the Graham Arnold coached side automatically entered the Second Round of the qualification process, which doubles as a direct qualifier for the AFC Asian Cup 2027TM in Saudi Arabia.
Australia have been drawn in Group I alongside Palestine, Lebanon and the winner of Maldives and Bangladesh.
The Subway Socceroos will play these three nations in a home-and-away round-robin format, between November 2023 and June 2024, where venues for Australia's home matches to be announced by Football Australia in due course.
HOME: Australia v winner of Maldives and Bangladesh, Thursday 16 November 2023 at Venue/City to be confirmed (TBC)
AWAY: Palestine v Australia, Tuesday 21 November 2023 at Venue/City TBC
HOME: Australia v Lebanon, Thursday 21 March 2024 at Venue/City TBC
AWAY: Lebanon v Australia, Tuesday 26 March 2024 at Venue/City TBC
AWAY: Winner of Maldives and Bangladesh v Australia, Thursday 6 June 2024 at Venue/City TBC
HOME: Australia v Palestine, Tuesday 11 June 2024 at Venue/City TBC
Subway Socceroos' Head Coach, Graham Arnold was looking forward to beginning work on the qualification process following tonight's Draw.
"As a group we're very focused on the Asian Cup in January, but as I've often said, we've always got one eye on the World Cup in 2026 and have confirmed fixtures against Mexico, England and New Zealand later this year to support our preparation for these World Cup qualifiers.
"Knowing our path to qualification now allows us to become much more specific with our planning and preparation in the lead up to November's qualifiers against either the Maldives or Bangladesh," Arnold said.
"Both Lebanon and Palestine will pose stern opposition for us, particularly on the road in front of their passionate fans, so ensuring we make the most of our home matches will be key to qualifying top of the group.
"September to April is a very busy period for our senior men's team, and also the Olyroos, where we will need to draw upon the depth of talent we've built over recent years to support the respective schedules of both programs.
"It's always an exciting time to commence a new qualifying cycle and I'm already looking forward to our opening match in November," concluded Arnold.
As there will be 48 teams - a first - at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, some changes were made by the AFC to the qualification format, with there being eight and a half slots on offer for the AFC's national teams.
It means that the 20 lowest-ranked Member Associations in the AFC will begin their road to the 23rd FIFA World Cup in Round 1. These 20 teams were divided into 10 pairings during the today's Round 1 Draw, held at 4.00pm AEST, with each pair to play one home and one away match on October 12 and 17, 2023 respectively.
The ten winners of Round 1 proceed to Round 2, where they are joined by the remaining 26 teams, including Australia. These 36 sides were drawn into nine groups of four, competing against each team in a home-and-away round-robin format, during the FIFA Men's International windows between November 2023 and June 2024.
All nine group winners and the respective runners-up will advance to the third round of World Cup qualifying, and at the same time seal their places at the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™.
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026™ - ASIAN QUALIFIERS ROUND 2
| GROUP A · Qatar · India · Kuwait · Afghanistan/Mongolia |
GROUP B · Japan · Syria · DPR Korea · Myanmar/Macau |
GROUP C · Korea Republic · China PR · Thailand · Singapore/Guam |
| GROUP D · Oman · Kyrgyz Republic · Malaysia · Chinese Taipei/Timor-Leste |
GROUP E · IR Iran · Uzbekistan · Turkmenistan · Hong Kong, China/Bhutan |
GROUP F · Iraq · Vietnam · Philippines · Indonesia/Brunei Darussalam |
| GROUP G · Saudi Arabia · Jordan · Tajikistan · Cambodia/Pakistan |
GROUP H · United Arab Emirates · Bahrain · Yemen/Sri Lanka · Nepal/Laos |
GROUP I · Australia · Palestine · Lebanon · Maldives/Bangladesh |
SUBWAY SOCCEROOS | GROUP I | MATCH SCHEDULE
November FIFA Men's International Window: 13-21 November, 2023
Australia v winner of Maldives and Bangladesh
Date: Thursday 16 November, 2023
Kick off: TBC
Venue: TBC, Australia
Palestine v Australia
Date: Tuesday 21 November, 2023
Kick off: TBC
Venue: TBC, XXXX
March FIFA Men's International Window: 18-26 March, 2024
Australia v Lebanon
Date: Thursday 21 March, 2024
Kick off: TBC
Venue: TBC, Australia
Lebanon v Australia
Date: Tuesday 26 March, 2024
Kick off: TBC
Venue: TBC, XXXX
June FIFA Men's International window: 3-11 June, 2024
Winner of Maldives and Bangladesh v Australia
Date: Thursday 6 June, 2024
Kick off: TBC
Venue: TBC, XXXX
Australia v Palestine
Date: Tuesday 11 June, 2024
Kick off: TBC
Venue: TBC, Australia
