According to the rules given by AFC official website, there will be 45 teams in Asia, and the competition will be divided into four stages. In the first stage, the team ranked last in the world 18 will draw two rounds of home and away games. The nine winning teams will enter the second stage and compete with the top 27 teams in Asia in the top 36. Team one will be divided into nine groups, each with four teams. After the home and away games, they will be in front of the group.
The third stage is the most crucial competition, that is, the previous 12 tournament has become a 18 tournament, and the teams of 18 are divided into three groups with 6 teams in each group. After the home and away games, the top two in the group directly advanced to the 2026 World Cup.
At this stage, the six teams ranked third and fourth in the group entered the fourth stage, and the six teams were divided into two groups. Three teams in each group play in a single round, and the group first directly advances to the 2026 World Cup. The two teams in the second place decided the winner through the play-offs, and the winning team represented Asia in the intercontinental play-offs of the World Cup.
Analysis of the Influence of Competition System on China's Image
There is no doubt that although the 2026 World Cup has expanded to 8.5 places in Asia, the competition pressure for each team is even greater! Especially for the China men's soccer team eager to participate in the World Cup, even if there are 8.5 places this time, there is great pressure to get tickets for the finals, especially in the second stage of the Top 36, with 9 teams in each group. You can't afford to lose every game if you want to get the top two in the group.
In the past 40 matches, China Men's Football Team was able to rely on the best team to finish second, and now the top 36 matches are the top two teams. However, if it comes to 18, China men's soccer team will be squeezed out if they want to get the top two in the group.
The only good news is that there are more ways to qualify for the enlarged World Cup. In the past, it stopped at 12 World Cup, leaving only one channel in the intercontinental play-off. Now, after the 18 match, there will be the third and fourth places in the fourth stage, and there are still two direct places left, and then we will go to the intercontinental play-off stage, which means that the channels for China men's soccer team to enter the World Cup have increased, depending on whether they can seize it.