I believe if Saudi Arabia wins against Oman and China, they will qualify. That will put them on 22 points. The maximum points Japan can get is 24. The maximum points Australia can get is 23. But Japan and Australia have to play each other. If they draw, then the max points Japan can get is 22, and the max points Australia can get is 21. If Australia wins, then the max points they get is 23, and the max points Japan gets is 21. If Japan wins, then the max points Japan gets is 24, and the max points Australia gets is 20. So all Saudi needs to do is beat Oman and China- although that is easier said than done.
But this is valid if Japan and Australia get maximum points in all other games excluding the game between them. It is highly unlikely to happen because Japan is not that strong team as Japan used to be almost 6 years ago, and Australia also lacks lusture in attack. Believe it or not, it will be be difficult for Japan to beat China in Japan, and it will be also difficult for Australia to beat Vietnam and Oman. Though they might win at the end but it will not be easy. I feel Saudi and Australia to be qualifying from this group as 1st and 2nd, respectively while Japan will be 3rd finisher. But again, it can only be judged after Matchday 8
We really did dodge a bullet against Oman, who fought with teeth and nails. Best of luck to them moving forward. Next up tomorrow is Japan, it will be played on Japan's home turf.
Herve Renard have voiced concerns of few players getting lack of playing time in the league. This will definitely put focus on teams who are lack giving oppotunity to the local players & thus releasing them to smaller clubs
KSA beaten by Japan. All to go for game against China now. But have to say, it has been coming a while now. The team doesn't look a unit when playing against any team these days. The last proper game I saw was against Australia away. After that game, its all pass it Salem game & if he misses any play/pass the team suffers. The striker position seem to be in limbo again. The coach can't count on Firas all the time. Its strange to watch Saleh Sehri on bench when he has been better option. Abdullah Hamdan is show off & easily assume he's there just for the club he plays now. I am having feeling this time again, qualification will be just done as the last WC's but the performance in tournament will be below par if things are not fixed early.
A drop in form was expected. China are shit at the moment but they may give you a tough test if you continue to play like this.
Oman drawing Australia eases up the pressure on KSA NT. The scenarios for direct qualification is as follows now - KSA win against China - Qualify KSA draw against China - Qualify if Japan beats or draw against Australia. If Australia wins then KSA will need a point against them in final fixture. KSA looses against China - Still can qualify if Japan beats Australia. If draw or win against Japan, then again KSA will need draw against the Aussies in final home game. 80% I see the qualification wrapping up in the next MD.
How come China lost against Vietnam? Did China fielded B team? It's time for China to field their B Team to give the other players some playing time and gain experience
Yes we did it again but No if we are going to have the same performance we had in previous WC. Although the team qualified with 2 matches left to play, but I ain't bragging about it a lot. The reason is simple, the team was not upto the mark in all games. Only game I enjoyed watching & hoping they would win fantastically was against China at home but that to there were scary moments till the final whistle. The wins against Japan at home, Oman ( H&A ) were pretty much a lackluster performance. You can't count on Vietnam wins as simple as they were the underdogs in the group & almost gave as shock in both the games played. Coming to the team selection, I don't see any surprise selections but would be definitely bothered if some players like Abdul Aziz Bishi, Abdul Rahman Aboud, Hassan Tumbakti , Saud Abdul Hamid , Muhammed Kuwaikbi & to name a few are left out. I really hope the madness of the last pre-WC appearance is not repeated such as - 1 - Sending players on loan for nothing & they come back with hefty bodies 2 - Sacking Herve Renard just coz he lost some friendly games or did not listen to someone in FA to include specific player Finally, the odds are coming out & Herve has openly voiced concerns about lack of game playing time for the players in the league especially for strikers. This won't change anything in matter of time but hopefully the FA somehow realise and shorten the quota of foreign players in the league. Players which might be seen for the last time in KSA Jersey - - Salem Dawsari - Salman Faraj - Yasser Shahrani - Abdullah Madu - Mohammed Owais - Hattan Bahabri
AFC Nations Ecosystem Ranking https://kassiesa.net/uefa/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=6034 I carried out some extensive research on the AFC nations and about where their programs stand right now. Here are the results: It's important to know that my grading system refers from 1 (lowest grade possible) to 10 (highest grade possible). NT form = national team form since the 2019 Asian Cup. Other than the Asian Cup, the World Cup qualifiers, the World Cup itself, the Gulf Cup, the AFF Championship and the Arab Cup 2021 are considered. Also friendlies for the lesser ranked nations who play less competitive matches. The weighting for "NT form" was 50% Youth = youth reusults in the last decade (last 8-10 years). Competitions taken into account include the U23 Asian Cup, U20 Asian Cup and the Asian Games as it's an U23 competition plus only three overage players. U17 results were not considered. A rating system was adopted to hand out points for a nation's final position in the final standings of each competition taken into account. The weighting for "youth" was 20%. Pedigree refers to a national team's results in the most important competitions since 2004 i.e. five World Cup cycles and five Asian Cup cycles are considered. Again competitions like the Gulf Cup and the AFF Champinship were taken into account. The weighting for "pedigree" was 20% Club success refers to a league's results in the two highest tier Asian club competitions i.e. AFC CL and AFC Cup since the 2016/2017 season. A rating system was developed in order to calculate a league's performance. Since the gap between first and second tier competition is big (probably bigger than in UEFA) my point system rewarded i.e. a quarterfinal run in the AFC CL more than winning the AFC Cup. The weighting for "club success" was only 10%. If two nations have the same overall grade the nation ranks first that has a better "NT form". Nation_____________________Grade 1. Japan__________________9.90 NT Form___________________10 Youth______________________9.5 Pedigree___________________10 Club success_______________10 2. South Korea____________9.30 NT Form___________________9.0 Youth______________________10 Pedigree___________________9.0 Club success_______________10 3. Australia________________8.15 NT Form___________________8.5 Youth______________________8.0 Pedigree___________________9.0 Club success_______________5.0 4. Iran____________________8.00 NT Form___________________8.5 Youth______________________6.5 Pedigree___________________8.0 Club success_______________8.5 5. Saudi Arabia____________8.00 NT Form___________________8.0 Youth______________________8.5 Pedigree___________________6.5 Club success_______________10 6. Qatar__________________7.05 NT Form___________________7.5 Youth______________________7.0 Pedigree___________________6.0 Club success_______________7.0 7. Iraq____________________6.95 NT Form___________________7.0 Youth______________________8.5 Pedigree___________________6.5 Club success_______________4.5 8. Uzbekistan_____________6.90 NT Form___________________6.5 Youth______________________9.5 Pedigree___________________6.0 Club success_______________5.5 9. UAE____________________6.40 NT Form___________________6.5 Youth______________________7.0 Pedigree___________________5.5 Club success_______________6.5 10. Jordan________________6.30 NT Form___________________7.0 Youth______________________6.5 Pedigree___________________5.5 Club success_______________4.0 11. China_________________5.95 NT Form___________________6.0 Youth______________________5.5 Pedigree___________________5.5 Club success_______________7.5 12. Bahrain_______________5.50 NT Form___________________7.0 Youth______________________2.5 Pedigree___________________5.5 Club success_______________4.0 13. Vietnam______________5.40 NT Form___________________6.0 Youth______________________7.0 Pedigree___________________4.0 Club success_______________2.0 14. Thailand______________5.35 NT Form___________________6.0 Youth______________________6.0 Pedigree___________________3.5 Club success_______________4.5 15. North Korea___________5.30 NT Form___________________5.0 Youth______________________7.0 Pedigree___________________5.5 Club success_______________3.0 16. Oman_________________4.95 NT Form___________________7.0 Youth______________________1.5 Pedigree___________________4.5 Club success_______________2.5 17. Syria__________________4.80 NT Form___________________5.5 Youth______________________5.0 Pedigree___________________4.0 Club success_______________2.5 18. Palestine______________3.65 NT Form___________________5.0 Youth______________________3.0 Pedigree___________________2.0 Club success_______________1.5 19. Lebanon______________3.60 NT Form___________________5.0 Youth______________________1.0 Pedigree___________________2.5 Club success_______________4.0 20. Malaysia______________3.60 NT Form___________________4.5 Youth______________________3.0 Pedigree___________________2.0 Club success_______________3.5 21. Tajikistan_____________3.55 NT Form___________________4.5 Youth______________________4.0 Pedigree___________________1.0 Club success_______________3.0 22. Kuwait________________3.40 NT Form___________________4.5 Youth______________________2.0 Pedigree___________________3.0 Club success_______________1.5 23. Indonesia_____________3.15 NT Form___________________3.5 Youth______________________4.0 Pedigree___________________2.0 Club success_______________2.0 24. Kyrgyzstan____________3.10 NT Form___________________4.5 Youth______________________1.5 Pedigree___________________2.0 Club success_______________1.5 25. Turkmenistan__________3.05 NT Form___________________4.0 Youth______________________2.0 Pedigree___________________2.0 Club success_______________2.5 26. India__________________3.00 NT Form___________________4.0 Youth______________________1.0 Pedigree___________________2.0 Club success_______________4.0 IMO the highest ranked 17 nations can eye a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Remember that with the expansion to 48 teams the AFC has 8+1 sposts for the World Cup. I think it will be an absolute dogfight for the last three four spots behind the usual suspects Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
AFC World Cup Qualifers 2026 predictions Round 1 Afghanistan over Mongolia Bangladesh over Maldives Singapore over Guam Yemen over Sri Lanka Myanmar over Macau Cambodia over Pakistan Chinese Taipei over Timor-Leste Indonesia over Brunei Hongkong over Bhutan Nepal over Laos Round 2 Group A 1. Qatar 2. Kuwait 3. India 4. Afghanistan Group B 1. Japan 2. Syria 3. North Korea 4. Myanmar Group C 1. South Korea 2. Thailand 3. China 4. Singapore Group D 1. Oman 2. Malaysia 3. Krygyzstan 4. Chinese Taipei Group E 1. Iran 2. Uzbekistan 3. Hongkong 4. Turkmenistan Group F 1. Vietnam 2. Iraq 3. Indonesia 4. Philippines Group G 1. Saudi Arabia 2. Jordan 3. Tajikistan 4. Cambodia Group H 1. Bahrain 2. UAE 3. Nepal 4. Yemen Group I 1. Australia 2. Lebanon 3. Palestine 4. Bangladesh My picks to be eliminated after round 3 Lebanon Malaysia Kuwait Syria Oman Thailand My picks to be eliminated after round 4 Vietnam Jordan My 8 Asian teams to qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup Japan Australia Iran South Korea Saudi Arabia Uzbekistan (debutants) Bahrain (debutants) UAE My round 5 match up Iraq over Qatar Iraq go on to play the intercontinental playoffs. But I don't have them coming through that. Good luck to all Asian teams!