AFC Asian Cup 2027: Uzbekistan’s seeding pot confirmed

The Asian Football Confederation has allocated national teams into seeding pots for the draw of the AFC Asian Cup 2027. The distribution was based on the FIFA rankings as of April 1.

Pot 1:

• Saudi Arabia (host);
• Japan;
• Iran;
• South Korea;
• Australia;
• Uzbekistan.

Pot 2:

• Qatar;
• Iraq;
• Jordan;
• United Arab Emirates;
• Oman;
• Syria.

Pot 3:

• Bahrain;
• Thailand;
• China;
• Palestine;
• Vietnam;
• Tajikistan.

Pot 4:

• Kyrgyzstan;
• Lebanon or Yemen;
• North Korea;
• Indonesia;
• Kuwait;
• Singapore.

For reference, in previous years the Asian Football Confederation used a hybrid system to determine the seeding pots, combining FIFA rankings with qualification results. Under that system, teams that reached the final stage of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers were given priority. As a result, during the draw for the 2019 Asian Cup finals, Uzbekistan moved from Pot 3 to Pot 2, swapping places with Kyrgyzstan.

It should also be noted that the group stage draw for the 2027 tournament in Saudi Arabia had earlier been postponed indefinitely due to security considerations. The tournament, featuring 24 teams, is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia from January 7 to February 5, 2027. The draw ceremony was initially planned for April 11 in Riyadh.