World Cup 26 AFC Qualifier Must Win Games

Thursday's matches mark a critical juncture for at least nine teams in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers for AFC.

Indeed, Thursday's matches denote the half-way point of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers for the AFC.

For the following nine teams, an outright win is an absolute must, as they currently sit at the absolute bottom of their respective Group. 

What is more, for most, a dramatic win by a large margin is necessary simply to no longer be sitting at the bottom of their group by the end of Thursday's matches.  

By contrast, a loss on March 21st, 2024 for these teams will almost certainly result in their missing out on their nation's dreams of participating in the largest world cup in history.

The teams most needing a dramatic win include:

a) Afghanistan, who, with no wins, no draws, two losses, and a minus 11 goal differential, plays a hungry, third ranked India, who stands at one and one. The match will be played Abha, Saudi Arabia, before a small crowd of no more than 5,000. Afghanistan will be the home team.

b) Myanmar, who, with no wins, no draws, two losses, and a minus 10 goal differential, plays third ranked Syria, who stands at one and one. The match will be played Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with Syria as the home team.

c) Singapore, who, with no wins, no draws, two losses, and a minus 7 goal differential, plays a desparate, third ranked China, who stands at one and one. The match will be played Singapore National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore before its home crowed with a potential for 55,000 fans cheering them one.

d) Taipei, who, with no wins, no draws, two losses, and a minus 4 goal differential, plays third ranked team Kyrgyzstan, who stands at one and one and needs a win as well. The match will be played in tiny Nanzih Football Stadium before a crowd of at most 1,200. The game will likewise be played in the middle of the day. Both the location and time of the match have been a source of complaints as documented in the Taipei Times. Taipei need to win by four to draw even with the team above them.

e) Hong Kong, who, with no wins, one draw, one loss, and a minus 4 goal differential, plays a bold, second ranked, team Uzbekistan, who stands undefeated with one win, one draw, no losses and a plus 2 goal differential. The match will be played in Mong Kok Stadium in Kowloon, Hong Kong before a potential home crowd of only 6,664.

f) Indonesia, who, with no wins, one draw, one loss, and a minus 4 goal differential, plays a confident second ranked team Vietnam, who stands with one win, no draws, one loss and a plus 1 goal differential. The match will be played in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia before a potential home crowd of 88,083.

g) Pakistan, who, with no wins, no draws, two losses, and a minus 9 goal differential, plays a team Jordan, who, with no wins, one draw, one losses and a minus 2 goal differential is likewise searching for their first win. The match will be played in Jinnah Sports Stadium in Islamabad, Pakistan before a potential home crowd of 17,000.

h) Nepal, who, with no wins, no draws, two losses, and a minus 6 goal differential, plays a team Bahrain, who, with one wins, no draws, one loss and a 0 goal differential is looking over their shoulder at a team Yemen which has an identical record as they do. The match will be played in Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa, Bahrain before an away crowd of a potential 24,000 fans.

i) Bangladesh, who, with no wins, one draw, one loss, and a minus 7 goal differential, plays a team Palestine, who, with an identical record and a minus 1 goal differential is looking to not only separate themselves from Bangladesh, but enter the top teir of their group. The match will be played in Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City, Kuwait before an away crowd of a potential 60,000 fans.

In addition to those nine teams, four more teams need a win to simply notch one match in the victory column.

Having entered halfway through the qualifying process without so much as a single win would not bode well for these National Teams:

Turkmenistan

Philippines

Jordan

Palestine

Thursday's looks to be a very decisive day as millions of fans of their respective national teams will be cheering them on to victory.

May the best teams win.