- Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup has already started in Asia
- The first round of qualifying saw some gigantic aggregate scorelines
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
The 2026 World Cup is 968 days away, but for some teams, dreams of qualifying have already been dashed.
While most confederations don’t begin qualifying for some time – UEFA’s process kicks off in March 2025 – one of them has already wielded its axe.
Ten teams playing in the Asian qualifying stages have seen their hopes extinguished after a brutal first knockout round.
Guam became the first nation to be eliminated as they lost 3-1 on aggregate at the hands of Singapore.
A 2-1 loss in Singapore last Thursday was followed by a 1-0 loss at home today, with Dane Jacob Augustin sent off to compound their woes.
Ranked 203rd in the world, the Micronesian island only ever had an outside chance of making the 2026 tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, but they will still be feeling the pain.
Guam became the first nation to be knocked out of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup
Australia will enter the second Asian qualifying round in November along with other big teams
For a few hours, they were the sole team to have been eliminated, but others have now followed suit.
Maldives, Cambodia, Mongolia, Bhutan, Macao, Laos, Brunei, Timor Leste, and Sri Lanka join Guam in the first ten losers.
They will not benefit from the generously expanded format for 2026, in which 48 teams will take part.
The standout performers in the first qualifying round were Indonesia, who pulverised Brunei 12-0 over two legs.
Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) also progressed in style with a 7-0 aggregate win over Timor-Leste.
Pakistan won their first-ever qualifying tie with a 1-0 victory over Cambodia.
The second round of qualifying in Asia will kick off in November and see the introduction of lots of big hitters including Australia, Japan, and South Korea enter a group stage format.
