Afghanistan and the 2030 World Cup

Chances at the 2030 World Cup

Afghanistan did not reach the World Cup in any of our 20,000 simulated qualifying campaigns.

Share of 20,000 simulated cycles, from first qualifier to final, in which Afghanistan got at least this far. How the simulation works · All 211 nations

The route to the finals

Asia's qualifying has three rounds: two-legged ties for the lowest-ranked nations, then nine groups of four, then three groups of six from which eight teams qualify. Afghanistan come in at the first round, the round for the confederation's lowest-ranked nations, and have to win a two-legged tie just to reach the groups.

There are 8 places for the 46 nations that have to qualify, plus one route through the inter-confederation play-off, where five teams from five confederations contest two more places on neutral ground.

AFC qualifying in full: format, what is official and every nation's odds.

How strong are they?

Afghanistan have 968.07 points in the FIFA ranking published on 7 October 2026, which places them 168th in the world and 32nd of the 46 nations in Asia. The simulator uses that points total directly as the team's rating.

Their attack score is 17 and their defence score 28, on a scale of 1 to 100 built from the last 30 internationals. The scores describe a side built on defence: fewer goals scored than its rating would suggest, and fewer conceded.

Around them in AFC

Afghanistan at the World Cup

They have never played at a World Cup finals.