The Asian Football Confederation will kick off their qualifying tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this week with games on Wednesday and Thursday.
Myanmar and Macau and Nepal and Laos open qualifying on Wednesday. Eight other games will be played on Thursday. An additional 10 games will be played on October 17. Twenty teams ranked 27-46 are competing in the first round of qualifying with a home and home series. The 10 winners from those games will advance to the second round, where they will be seeded into nine four-team groups.
South American (CONMEBOL) will resume World Cup qualifying with another round of games on Thursday and Tuesday of next week.
Philadelphia Union midfielder Jose Martinez will be in the Venezuela squad for their games against Brazil and Chile. Jesus Bueno wasn’t able to report to the team due to injury.
Wednesday, October 11
AFC Qualifiers – First Round
Myanmar vs Macau
Nepal vs Laos
Thursday, October 12
AFC Qualifiers – First Round
Chinese Tapipei vs Timor-Leste
Maldives vs Bangladesh
Singapore vs Guam
Hong Kong vs Bhutan
Indonesia vs Brunei
Cambodia vs Pakistan
Afghanistan vs Mongolia
Yemen vs Sri Lanka
Conmebol Qualifiers – First Round
Colombia vs Uruguay
Bolivia vs Ecuador
Argentina vs Paraguay
Chile vs Peru
Brazil vs Venezuela
Tuesday, October 17
AFC Qualifiers – First Round
Guam vs Singapore
Mongolia vs Afghanistan
Pakistan vs Cambodia
Sri Lanka vs Yemen
Timor-Leste vs Chinese Taipei
Macau vs Myanmar
Bangladesh vs Maldives
Bhutan vs Hong Kong
Laos vs Nepal
Brunei vs Indonesia
Conmebol Qualifiers – First Round
Venezuela vs Chile
Paraguay vs Bolivia
Ecuador vs Colombia
Uruguay vs Brazil
Peru vs Argentina