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.^[1]

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round

Tournament details
Dates	12–17 October 2023
Teams	20 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	51 (2.55 per match)
Attendance	138,247 (6,912 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Dimas Drajad Ramadhan Sananta (3 goals each)
← 2022 2030 →

Format

A total of twenty teams were drawn into ten home-and-away ties, the winners of which advanced to the second round.^[2] As the second round draw occurred on the same date as the first round draw,^[3] each winner already knew their second round schedule.

Schedule

The schedule was as follows:^[1]

Matchday	Date(s)	Matches
Matchday 1	12 October 2023	1 v 2
Matchday 2	17 October 2023	2 v 1

Draw

The draw for the first round was held on 27 July 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[4]

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.

Pot 1	Pot 2
Hong Kong (149)  Indonesia (150)  Chinese Taipei (153)  Maldives (155)  Yemen (156)  Afghanistan (157)  Singapore (158)  Myanmar (160)    Nepal (175)  Cambodia (176)	Macau (182)  Mongolia (183)  Bhutan (185)  Laos (187)  Bangladesh (189)  Brunei (190)  Timor-Leste (192)  Pakistan (201)  Guam (203)  Sri Lanka (207)[note 1]

Summary

The ten winners advanced to the second round of qualifying.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Afghanistan	2–0	Mongolia	1–0	1–0
Maldives	2–3	Bangladesh	1–1	1–2
Singapore	3–1	Guam	2–1	1–0
Yemen	4–1	Sri Lanka	3–0	1–1
Myanmar	5–1	Macau	5–1	0–0
Cambodia	0–1	Pakistan	0–0	0–1
Chinese Taipei	7–0	Timor-Leste	4–0	3–0
Indonesia	12–0	Brunei	6–0	6–0
Hong Kong	4–2	Bhutan	4–0	0–2
Nepal	2–1	Laos	1–1	1–0

Matches

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

19:00 UTC+5

Afghanistan	1–0	Mongolia
Sharza 60'	Report

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe (Tajikistan)^{[note 2]}

Attendance: 1,456

Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

15:00 UTC+8

Mongolia	0–1	Afghanistan
	Report	Noor 72'

MFF Football Centre, Ulaanbaatar

Attendance: 2,185

Referee: Hassan Akrami (Iran)

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

---

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

16:00 UTC+5

Maldives	1–1	Bangladesh
Nazeem 87'	Report	Saad 90+2'

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Vahid Kazemi (Iran)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

17:45 UTC+6

Bangladesh	2–1	Maldives
Rakib 11' Fahim 46'	Report	Aisam 36'

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Attendance: 6,729

Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)

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

---

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

19:30 UTC+8

Singapore	2–1	Guam
Van Huizen 35' Mahler 41'	Report	Cunliffe 90'

National Stadium, Singapore

Attendance: 10,355

Referee: Mohammad Ghabayen (Jordan)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

14:45 UTC+10

Guam	0–1	Singapore
	Report	Shawal 81'

GFA National Training Center, Dededo

Attendance: 1,012

Referee: Chen Hsin-chuan (Chinese Taipei)

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

---

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

20:00 UTC+3

Yemen	3–0	Sri Lanka
Maher 33' Al-Gahwashi 67' Al-Matari 90+3'	Report

Damac Club Stadium, Khamis Mushait (Saudi Arabia)^{[note 3]}

Attendance: 1,526

Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

15:00 UTC+5:30

Sri Lanka	1–1	Yemen
Rathnayake 89'	Report	Al-Matari 4'

Colombo Racecourse, Colombo

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Clifford Daypuyat (Philippines)

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

---

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

16:00 UTC+6:30

Myanmar	5–1	Macau
Lwin Moe Aung 39', 90+5' Soe Moe Kyaw 62' Aung Kaung Mann 81' Nay Moe Naing 90+1'	Report	Torrão 55'

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 6,213

Referee: Pranjal Banerjee (India)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

19:30 UTC+8

Macau	0–0	Myanmar
	Report

Estádio Campo Desportivo, Macau

Attendance: 2,187

Referee: Salim Al-Majarafi (Oman)

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

---

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

19:00 UTC+7

Cambodia	0–0	Pakistan
	Report

Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 11,718

Referee: Baraa Aisha (Palestine)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

14:00 UTC+5

Pakistan	1–0	Cambodia
Hamid 68'	Report

Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad

Attendance: 13,152

Referee: Feras Taweel (Syria)

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

---

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

19:00 UTC+8

Chinese Taipei	4–0	Timor-Leste
Yu Yao-hsing 4', 60' Chen Ting-yang 57' Ko Yu-ting 88'	Report

National Stadium, Kaohsiung

Attendance: 1,894

Referee: Ismaeel Habib Ali (Bahrain)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

19:00 UTC+8

Timor-Leste	0–3	Chinese Taipei
	Report	Yu Chia-huang 18' Wu Yen-shu 21' Kouamé 24'

National Stadium, Kaohsiung (Taiwan)^{[note 4]}

Attendance: 745

Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar (India)

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

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12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

19:00 UTC+7

Indonesia	6–0	Brunei
Dimas 7', 72', 90+2' Ridho 12' Sananta 63' (pen.), 67'	Report

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta

Attendance: 23,318

Referee: Bijan Heydari (Iran)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

20:15 UTC+8

Brunei	0–6	Indonesia
	Report	Hokky 6', 44' Egy 42' Witan 47' (pen.) Ridho 63' Sananta 82'

Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan

Attendance: 17,281

Referee: Ahmed Faisal Al-Ali (Jordan)

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

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12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

20:00 UTC+8

Hong Kong	4–0	Bhutan
Udebuluzor 10', 16' S. Chan 28' Norbu 35' (o.g.)	Report

Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 10,259

Referee: Razlan Joffri Ali (Malaysia)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

18:00 UTC+6

Bhutan	2–0	Hong Kong
Gyeltshen 28' Chogyal 47'	Report

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 5,300

Referee: Thoriq Alkatiri (Indonesia)

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

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12 October 2023 (2023-10-12)

17:30 UTC+5:45

Nepal	1–1	Laos
Bista 48'	Report	Bounkong 33'

Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu

Attendance: 11,235

Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17)

19:00 UTC+7

Laos	0–1	Nepal
	Report	Dangi 53'

New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane

Attendance: 9,772

Referee: Ali Reda (Lebanon)

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.^[7][8] However, Guam withdrew and the Northern Mariana Islands were not included in the draw for the play-off round announced on 1 May 2024.^[9] 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.^[10]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bhutan	2	1	0	1	2	4	−2	3	Asian Cup qualifying third round
2	Maldives	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	1
3	Laos	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1
4	Cambodia	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
5	Sri Lanka	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	1
6	Macau	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	1
7	Guam	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2	0	Withdrew from play-off round
8	Mongolia	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	0	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
9	Timor-Leste	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	0
10	Brunei	2	0	0	2	0	12	−12	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Lower disciplinary points total; 5) Drawing of lots.^[11]

Goalscorers

There were 51 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 2.55 goals per match.

3 goals

• Dimas Drajad
• Ramadhan Sananta

2 goals

• Yu Yao-hsing
• Michael Udebuluzor
• Hokky Caraka
• Rizky Ridho
• Lwin Moe Aung
• Abdulwasea Al-Matari

1 goal

• Farshad Noor
• Jabar Sharza
• Foysal Ahmed Fahim
• Rakib Hossain
• Md Saad Uddin
• Lobzang Chogyal
• Chencho Gyeltshen
• Ange Kouamé
• Chen Ting-yang
• Ko Yu-ting
• Wu Yen-shu
• Yu Chia-huang
• Jason Cunliffe
• Shinichi Chan
• Egy Maulana Vikri
• Witan Sulaeman
• Bounphachan Bounkong
• Niki Torrão
• Aisam Ibrahim
• Hassan Nazeem
• Aung Kaung Mann
• Nay Moe Naing
• Soe Moe Kyaw
• Anjan Bista
• Manish Dangi
• Harun Hamid
• Shawal Anuar
• Jacob Mahler
• Christopher van Huizen
• Charitha Rathnayake
• Nasser Al-Gahwashi
• Ahmed Maher

1 own goal

• Tenzin Norbu (against Hong Kong)

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions:^[12]

• Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious infractions)
• Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions are carried forward to further qualification rounds, but not the finals or any other future international matches)

The following suspension was served during the first round:

Team	Player	Infraction	Suspended for matches
Mongolia	Tsend-Ayush Khurelbaatar	vs Afghanistan (12 October 2023)	vs Afghanistan (17 October 2023) vs Azerbaijan (22 March 2024)

Notes

1. Sri Lanka was suspended for government interference in football, but was provisionally included in the draw, pending a resolution.^[5] After the issue was settled, the ban was lifted, allowing the team to participate.^[6]
2. Afghanistan played their home game at a neutral venue due to the ongoing Afghan conflict.
3. Yemen played their home game at a neutral venue due to the ongoing civil war in Yemen.
4. Timor-Leste played their home game in Kaohsiung, due to the National Stadium in Dili failing to meet FIFA standards.