Bright chance for Harimau Malaya

By: MOHD FARIQ

HARIMAU Malaya’s prospects of landing a slot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup have increased following Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s reworked format, markedly different from the just concluded series.

Kim Pan-gon may entertain the idea of earning a ticket to the USA, Canada and Mexico which will feature a-48 team competition as opposed to the existing format involving 32 teams which was first introduced in France 1998.

According to the new AFC qualifying format, the top 25 ranked teams in Asia will get a bye to the second round of qualification, whereas nations ranked 26 to 47 will be required to participate in the first round of qualifiers in a joint World Cup-Asian Cup format.

So the challenge is for Pan Gon to make sure when the draw of the qualifiers is held, Malaysia is ranked among the top 25 nations in Asia, without going through the trouble of playing in the first round.

If Malaysia drops into the 26-47 ranked category, the four layers of qualifying will be a gruelling test for Harimau Malaya.

Eleven teams from the first round shall advance to the second round home-and-away series consisting of nine groups. The top two teams in each of those groups will progress to the third round, which will be divided into three groups of six teams in a round robin format.
The first and second teams in each of those groups will get direct entries for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

AFC today issued a statement saying a four-round qualifying system has been designed in preparation for the eight direct spots and single intercontinental playoff slot allocated to the AFC following the expansion of the World Cup.

The third and fourth-place teams will go into a playoff round that will be divided into two groups of three.

The winners of those groups will secure spots at the World Cup; the runners-up will go into a playoff for Asia’s spot in an intercontinental playoff for a last-chance saloon at qualifying.

For the upcoming 2022 edition, Asia has four direct entries for Qatar, which will kick off on November 21, with the first- and second-place teams — Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan — in two six-team groups from the third round of qualifying getting automatic spots for Qatar.

Malaysia failed to land a slot at the Asian final round for the 2022 campaign after going through two layers of qualifying, beating Timor Leste in the first round but then finishing third in Group G comprising United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Vietnam who went on to the third round.