Uzbekistan and Jordan qualify for maiden FIFA World Cup following favourable results in their favour yesterday.
Uzbekistan & Jordan qualify for first World Cups.
South Korea has also guaranteed its spot at the tournament, and Uzbekistan and Jordan have both qualified for their first World Cups.
In 2026, they will be the eighth, ninth, and tenth teams to secure their places in the 48-team tournament that will take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The most recent three to qualify join Argentina, Japan, New Zealand, and Iran. The three hosts have already qualified automatically.
Later in the day, South Korea defeated Iraq 2-0 to earn their 11th consecutive World Cup qualifying, while Uzbekistan drew 0-0 with the United Arab Emirates. Jordan’s 3-0 victory over Oman further cemented their historic qualification.
With a population of 36 million, Uzbekistan is ranked 57th in the world. After breaking away from the Soviet Union, they played their first match as an independent country in June 1992, and two years later, they were approved by FIFA, the world governing body.
The last time Uzbekistan came close to qualifying was during a contentious 2006 campaign in which they faced Bahrain in a two-leg playoff to decide who would represent the Asian Football Confederation versus Trinidad and Tobago in the Concacaf. The victor of the match would then advance to the German finals.
Uzbekistan won the first leg 1-0, however they missed out on away goals because of a refereeing error that resulted in FIFA demanding a rematch.
However, the Uzbeks have advanced to the knockout stage in every Asian Cup final since 2004 and qualified for every one since 1996, including a run to the quarterfinals last year and the semi-finals in 2011.
Jordan, the runners-up in the Asian Cup, are now rated 62nd in the world and are participating in their eighth World Cup qualifying round since 1986.
In 2014, they lost to Uruguay in an intercontinental play-off, which was their closest previous approach to qualifying.