Kuala Lumpur - Saba:
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will hold the draw for the AFC Futsal Championship Indonesia 2026 next Thursday at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Thirty-one countries have confirmed their participation in the 11th edition of the qualifiers, which will be held in a league format from September 20 to 24. The teams will be divided into eight groups, seven of which will contain four teams, while Group Eight will contain only three teams.
The Asian Football Confederation's official website stated in a statement on Monday that 16 teams will participate in the tournament finals, including Indonesia, which qualified automatically as the host nation. The eight group winners and the seven best runners-up will join them.
The qualifiers will feature Bangladesh and Pakistan for the first time, while Iran, Japan, Thailand, and Uzbekistan will seek to maintain their perfect record of participating in every edition of the tournament since its inception.
In a first-of-its-kind move, the teams' seedings for the draw will be based on the latest FIFA Men's Futsal World Ranking, issued on April 4. The teams will be divided into four main pots, in addition to a seeding for the host countries of the qualifying groups.
Pot 1 includes Iran (5), Thailand (11), Japan (13), Uzbekistan (23), Vietnam (31), Afghanistan (33), Kuwait (40), and Iraq (41); The second level includes Tajikistan (44), Kyrgyzstan (48), Saudi Arabia (50), Australia (52), Lebanon (53), Myanmar (56), South Korea (70), and Malaysia (76).
The third level, according to the FIFA rankings, includes China (79), Chinese Taipei (82), Bahrain (83), the United Arab Emirates (97), the Maldives (106), Timor-Leste (109), Mongolia (112), and Macau (115). The fourth level includes Hong Kong (118), Brunei (119), Palestine (121), Cambodia (125), India (135), Bangladesh (unranked), and Pakistan (unranked).
The hosts' ranking includes Thailand (11th/Tier 1), Kuwait (40th/Tier 1), Tajikistan (44th/Tier 2), Kyrgyzstan (48th/Tier 2), Saudi Arabia (50th/Tier 2), Myanmar (56th/Tier 2), Malaysia (76th/Tier 2), and China (79th/Tier 3).
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