The Asian Football Confederation announced that Saudi Arabia and Qatar will jointly host the Asian playoff qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup from October 8 to 14, 2025.

Matches for the playoff are scheduled to occur over three match days from October 8 to 14, 2025.

Asian federations had requested that the playoff matches be held on neutral ground to ensure fairness.

These two nations have been awarded the hosting rights for the fourth round of Asia's 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which will take place in October 2025.

The teams participating in the Asian playoff include the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, with the draw for the groups scheduled for July 17, 2025.

In the third round of qualifiers, the top two teams from each of the three groups automatically qualified for the World Cup, filling six of Asia's eight slots.

The remaining teams will be divided into two groups of three, with the winners joining Japan, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, and Jordan in the World Cup finals.

Each group will consist of three teams, with each team playing two matches; the group winners will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup.

Runners-up from each group will advance to a playoff in November 2025, where they will compete for a chance to enter the intercontinental playoff in March 2026 for the final World Cup spots.

These second-placed teams will face off in two matches on November 13 and 18 to qualify for the global playoff.

Palestine was eliminated from contention after a late penalty loss to Oman, marking the end of their World Cup hopes.

The qualification process for the 2027 Asian Cup began in October 2023, involving 20 teams in initial playoffs, followed by further rounds including teams ranked 1-26.