How To Watch: FIFA World Cup 2026™ - AFC Round 3 Draw

Socceroos.com.au, FIFA and AFC Media \\ Photo Credit: Aleksandar Jason/Socceroos 1719040729,1719205370

The Subway Socceroos will learn their new group opponents at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ - AFC Third Round draw in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 27 June.

Australia is one of 18 teams from the Asian Football Confederation, vying to automatically qualify for the next iteration of the FIFA World Cup™, which will feature an unprecedented 48 teams across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The draw will divide the 18 countries still in contention into three groups of six teams with matches to be played in a group-stage format across September, October and November 2024 and March and June 2025. The draw procedures are available here.

The top two teams from each of the three groups (six teams in total) will advance directly to the FIFA World Cup 26™.

As the fourth-highest ranked AFC nation, Graham Arnold's side have been seeded in Pot 2 where they will avoid Qatar and Iraq but could be drawn against any of the other countries.

The 18 teams have been seeded into six pots for the draw according to the latest FIFA rankings as of June 20:

Pot 1: Japan (17), Islamic Republic of Iran (20), Korea Republic (22)

Pot 2: Australia (23), Qatar (35), Iraq (55)

Pot 3: Saudi Arabia (56), Uzbekistan (62), Jordan (68)

Pot 4; United Arab Emirates (69), Oman (76), Bahrain (81)

Pot 5: China PR (88), Palestine (95), Kyrgyz Republic (101)

Pot 6: DPR Korea (110), Indonesia (134), Kuwait (137)

*FIFA rankings in brackets

The third and fourth-placed teams from each group – six in total – will progress to the AFC Asian Qualifiers™ – Road to 26 Playoff, to be contested in two groups of three teams in a single round robin format in October and November 2025, with both group winners qualifying for the 23rd FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The two second-placed finishers will face off in a home and away tie to earn the right to reach the Intercontinental Playoff, to be played in March 2026, and battle it out for the final available berth.