The third stage of the 2026 AFC FIFA World Cup Qualifiers gets underway in September with the Subway Socceroos opening proceedings against Bahrain in the Gold Coast on Thursday, 5 September.
The latest round of AFC World Cup Qualifiers sees 18 countries divided into three groups, each consisting of six teams.
All the action will be spread across 10 Match Days which will see each nation play the five other teams in their group in a home/away format.
AFC Road to 26 Qualifiers: Important Links
The first two Match Days will take place in September and finish in June 2025.
Graham Arnold's side have been placed in Group C alongside China, Indonesia, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the aforementioned Bahrain.
The top two teams from each group will book their ticket to the World Cup while the third and fourth placed sides will have to bide their time as they enter the Fourth Round Qualifiers.
Catch all of the Subway Socceroos' home AFC World Cup Qualifiers live and free on 10 and 10 Play with their away fixtures live and exclusive on Paramount+.
10 Play will publish the full match replays and highlights of the Socceroos away fixtures 36 hours after the completion of each respective match.
It is not just the Socceroos that you can tune in to, there are also all the remaining AFC Road to 26 Qualifiers which will be live and exclusive on Paramount+.
2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: AFC Third Round Qualifiers
Group A
| Nations |
| Iran |
| Qatar |
| Uzbekistan |
| United Arab Emirates |
| Kyrgyzstan |
| Korea DPR |
Group B
| Nations |
| Korea Republic |
| Iraq |
| Jordan |
| Oman |
| Palestine |
| Kuwait |
Group C
| Nations |
| Japan |
| Australia |
| Saudi Arabia |
| Bahrain |
| China |
| Indonesia |
