2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round

The third round of AFC matches for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification will be played from September 2021 to March 2022.[1][2]

Format

A total of 12 teams which will have advanced from the second round (the eight group winners and the four best group runners-up) will be divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.

The draw for the third round will be held after the second round has been completed.

Schedule

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, FIFA announced on 12 August 2020 that the upcoming qualifying matches originally scheduled for 2020 were moved to 2021,[3] and on 11 November, the AFC Competitions Committee also announced that the final round of the Asian qualifiers will begin in September 2021 and is to be finished by March 2022.[4]

Matchday Date
Matchday 1 2 September 2021 (originally 3 September 2020)
Matchday 2 7 September 2021 (originally 8 September 2020)
Matchday 3 7 October 2021 (originally 13 October 2020)
Matchday 4 12 October 2021 (originally 12 November 2020)
Matchday 5 11 November 2021 (originally 17 November 2020)
Matchday 6 16 November 2021 (originally 25 March)
Matchday 7 January 2022 (originally 30 March 2021)
Matchday 8 January 2022 (originally 8 June 2021)
Matchday 9 March 2022 (originally 7 September 2021)
Matchday 10 March 2022 (originally 12 October 2021)

References
  1. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2021" (PDF). AFC. 30 November 2020.
  2. "INTERNATIONAL MATCH CALENDAR 2020-2024" (PDF). FIFA.
  3. "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Asia". FIFA. 12 August 2020.
  4. "New competition dates approved by AFC Competitions Committee". AFC. 11 November 2020.
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