The stage for the third and final round of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ will be set at the Qualifiers Draw ceremony on Monday, December 9 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Six berths remain to be clinched and the 24-strong cast will be divided equally into six groups to do battle starting from March 2025, with only the group winners progressing to the 19th edition of Asia’s crown jewel.
They will join the 18 teams that have already punched their tickets from Round 2 to the Continent’s showpiece, which is slated to take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the first time.
The teams in the hat for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ Qualifiers Final Round comprise the three best-ranked losing teams from Round 1, three winning teams from the Qualifiers Playoff and the 18 third and fourth-placed teams from Round 2.
Nine of the contenders will be dreaming of a historic maiden AFC Asian Cup™ qualification – Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste – while eight others are eyeing an immediate return, having appeared at the 2023 edition in Qatar.
The seedings and four pots for the draw, based on the latest FIFA Ranking as of November 28, are as below:
Pot 1: Syria (ranked 95th), Thailand (97), Tajikistan (104), Lebanon (112), Vietnam (116), India (127)
Pot 2: Malaysia (132), Turkmenistan (143), Philippines (149), Afghanistan (155), Hong Kong, China (156), Yemen (158)
Pot 3: Singapore (161), Maldives (162), Chinese Taipei (165), Myanmar (167), Nepal (175), Bhutan (182)
Pot 4: Brunei Darussalam (184), Bangladesh (185), Laos (186), Timor-Leste (196), Pakistan (198), Sri Lanka (200)
The Qualifiers Final Round will be contested over six match days in a home-and-away format between March 25, 2025 and March 31, 2026.
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