Iraq to play against Vietnam, the Philippines in Asian qualifiers of 2026 World Cup
The Iraqi football national team. Photo: FIFA
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq was drawn to face Vietnam and the Philippines in Asia’s preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday during the draw that took place in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The Iraqi football team will also take on the winners of a playoff between Indonesia and Brunei.
The ten teams winning in the first round qualify for the second round to join 26 teams, where all 36 teams will be divided into nine groups.
Each group includes four teams competing in a two-stage league system, where the competitions will be held from November 2023 to June 2024.
The first two teams from each group qualify for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers, and at the same time, these teams are qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia.
The matches of the first round will be held in October 2023, while the second round, which also qualifies for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, will start on November 16 and end on June 11.
The Asian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be held in Canada, the United States and Mexico for national teams that are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).