AFC plans to hold Nations League from 2030... Significant changes to the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Bae Jin-nam = As the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) plans to host the Nations League from 2030, it is reported that the FIFA World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying methods will also change significantly.

ESPN, a sports media outlet, reported on the 4th (local time) that it had obtained AFC's plan to hold the Nations League and that "AFC plans to present a detailed plan to host member associations on the 6th to hold the tournament every two years starting in 2030."

In December last year, AFC announced, "We plan to launch the AFC Nations League in the future as part of our ongoing efforts to expand opportunities for the development of soccer in member countries and establish a more systematic and sustainable international competition system."

According to ESPN, in the Nations League, the 47 member countries of the AFC are divided into three tiers.

18 countries will each enter the first and second divisions, and the 11 countries in the third division will be divided into three groups.

The first Nations League competition, which is linked to the World Cup qualifiers, is scheduled to be held in the 2032-2033 season.

Each team will play a total of 12 games, 6 home and 6 away.

The top six teams in the first division advance directly to the World Cup finals, and the four teams ranked 7th to 10th will compete in a full-league playoff for the remaining two World Cup finals spots allocated to the AFC. Among these, the top two teams will participate in the World Cup finals, and the third-place team will participate in the intercontinental playoffs.

The Nations League, which also serves as an Asian Cup qualifier, will be held for the first time in 2030.

The Asian Cup itself is also being promoted along with a plan to postpone it from 2031 to 2032.

Each team will play 3 home and 3 away games.

All teams in the first division and the top six teams with the best performance in the second division advance to the Asian Cup finals.

In the AFC Nations League, the top eight teams advance to the tournament to determine the winner. After the home-and-away quarterfinals, the semifinals and finals will be held in a neutral location.

A lift system is also implemented.

The top two teams in each league are automatically promoted, and the bottom two teams are automatically relegated. Additional promotion teams will also be selected through playoffs.

The AFC Nations League does not divide teams by region or region.

AFC cited the fact that there are different numbers of countries and differences in performance across regions and regions.

In addition, AFC is also considering holding a pilot tournament in the 2028-2029 season.

In the pilot competition, the first division will maintain the format of competing in three groups of six teams, similar to the 2026 North and Central America World Cup qualifiers. The top two teams from each group will advance to the 2030 World Cup finals.

However, unlike this year's World Cup preliminary format, where the 3rd and 4th place teams from each group advanced to the Asian playoffs, in the exhibition tournament, the four teams with the best performance among the remaining teams will participate in the playoffs.

Among these, the top two teams advance directly to the World Cup finals, and the third-place team goes through an intercontinental playoff.

The pilot competition will also include automatic promotion, relegation and playoff systems to form the first official competition level in 2030.