The World Cup is being held in Russia in June 2022, and the opening two rounds of qualifying serve as the AFC Asian Cup. The event is held every four years, and the first two rounds will be played in June 2022. The qualifying competition features 46 teams from different confederations. The countries were determined by FIFA World Rankings, with the top six teams advancing to the finals. The other two spots will be taken by the prequalified host nation and will carry over their results from the first round.
The Asian qualifiers were divided into two groups of six teams. The top two teams will automatically qualify and the third-placed teams will play for qualification. The remaining teams will play in intercontinental play-offs. Qatar, Australia, and Tunisia qualified from Group A, while the United Arab Emirates, Peru, and South Korea qualified from Group B. The other eight teams will face off in a playoff.
The second round of Asian qualifying is held from November 2021 to February 2023. The draw will feature home and away games between the eight teams. The first round will be held in November, while the second round is held in February. Both rounds will be nine days long. The matches will be played in the same location. The final group will have two games each, and each team will play each other twice in one window.
The first two teams from each group will advance to the finals. The bottom two teams will be relegated to the fourth round. The third-place team will play the fifth-place team, which is also a qualifier. The remaining four rounds of fixtures will be played in January and February of 2022. So far, Japan, Australia, and Saudi Arabia will be the top four. The top two teams from each group will automatically qualify for the World Cup.
The next round will be held on January 22. The first round will be held on January 2022, with the fourth-place team facing the winner of the group AFC finals. The second round will be held on December 20, which is the last day of qualifying. The Asian qualifiers will play the fifth-place team of the CONMEBOL. These three teams will play against the top two teams in Group B and the first-place teams in the second round.
The second round of the qualification will be held in March 2022 in Qatar. The group will feature 40 teams, which will then play their home and away matches. The four best teams will advance to the next round. If the Asian Qualifiers are completed successfully, the top two will advance to the third round. The other group will feature the fifth-placed team. If it is not, the group will be held in China, and the fourth-placed team will participate in the tournament as well.