AFC Nations League to Kick Off in 2030... Expected to Link with World Cup and Asian Cup Qualifiers

As the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) pushes to launch the Nations League starting in 2030, the qualification formats for the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup are reportedly set to undergo significant changes.

Citing a draft plan obtained regarding the AFC's Nations League, sports media outlet ESPN reported that "the AFC is set to formally present a plan to its member associations on the 6th to host the tournament on a biennial cycle starting in 2030."

Last December, the AFC announced, "As part of ongoing efforts to expand opportunities for the development of football among member associations and to establish a more systematic and sustainable international match calendar, we plan to launch the future AFC Nations League."

According to ESPN, the 47 member associations belonging to the AFC will be divided into three tiers in the Nations League.

Tiers 1 and 2 will each feature 18 countries, while Tier 11 countries in Tier 3 will be divided into three groups.

The inaugural Nations League tournament linked with the World Cup qualifiers is scheduled to take place in the 2032–2033 season.

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

The top 6 teams from Tier 1 will directly qualify for the World Cup finals, while four teams ranked 7th to 10th will compete in a round-robin playoff for the remaining two World Cup tickets allocated to the AFC.

Among them, the top 2 teams will join the World Cup finals, and the 3rd-placed team will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.

The Nations League combined with the Asian Cup qualifiers will be held for the first time in 2030.

This is being promoted alongside a plan to postpone the Asian Cup itself from 2031 to 2032.

Each team will play 3 home matches and 3 away matches.

All teams in Tier 1 and the top 6 performing teams from Tier 2 will advance to the Asian Cup finals.

In the AFC Nations League, the top 8 teams will advance to a knockout stage to determine the champion.

Following the home-and-away quarterfinals, the semifinals and final will be held in a single neutral venue.

A promotion and relegation system will also be implemented.

The top 2 teams from each league will be automatically promoted, and the bottom 2 teams will be automatically relegated.

Additional promoted and relegated teams will be determined through playoffs.

The AFC Nations League will not divide teams by region or zone.

The AFC cited the differing number of countries and disparities in playing standards across regions and zones as the reasons.

Additionally, the AFC is considering holding a pilot tournament in the 2028–2029 season.

In the pilot tournament, Tier 1 will maintain the format of competing in three groups of six teams each, similar to the qualifiers for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the 2030 World Cup finals.

However, unlike this year's World Cup qualifying format where the 3rd and 4th-place teams from each group advanced to the Asian playoffs, the pilot tournament will have the four best-performing remaining teams compete in a playoff.

Among them, the top 2 teams will directly qualify for the World Cup finals, and the 3rd-placed team will go through the inter-confederation playoffs.

The pilot tournament is also expected to include automatic promotion, relegation, and playoff systems to form the tier composition for the first official competition in 2030.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.