Jordan and Uzbekistan qualified for the men’s World Cup finals for the first time on Thursday, while South Korea sealed their 11th successive appearance.
A 0-0 draw against the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi was enough for Uzbekistan to take the second automatic qualification spot in Group A behind Iran with a game to spare.
The Central Asian team and fans celebrated together at the end and had goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov to thank for a number of important saves.
The trio join Japan, New Zealand, Iran and Argentina as the countries to have qualified for the 2026 World Cup. Co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico automatically qualified for the competition.
As well as the six automatic qualifiers from Asia, the UAE and Qatar, who defeated the already-qualified Iran 1-0, will finish third and fourth and advance to the next stage, where six teams will compete for two more places at the 2026 World Cup.
In Group B, South Korea won 2-0 in Iraq to clinch their place. The Taeguk Warriors were helped by Ali Al-Hamadi’s first-half red card, given to the Ipswich Town striker for a high kick.
Kim Jin-Gyu put Korea ahead just after the hour, and the victory was sealed by Oh Hyeon-Gyu eight minutes from the end. It was also enough for Jordan, who earlier beat Oman 3-0 to clinch a place in the top two. All three goals were scored by Ali Olwan.
Palestine stayed in contention for the top four with a 2-0 win over Kuwait.
Group C saw China eliminated after a 1-0 loss to Indonesia in Jakarta. A first-half penalty from Ole Romeny was enough to keep out China, whose sole appearance was in 2002
Indonesia, coached by Patrick Kluivert, took the lead just before the break when Romeny converted from the penalty spot.
Elsewhere in the group, a last-minute goal from Aziz Behich gave Australia a 1-0 win over Japan, already qualified, in Perth to put the Socceroos within touching distance of a sixth straight World Cup appearance.
In the 90th minute, Riley McGree broke free down the right and pulled back for Behich to curl home to bring Perth Stadium to its feet and give Australia their first win over Japan in 16 years.
“It hasn’t sunk in just yet but when the final whistle went it was a great feeling,” Behich said. “It was a tough game and we had to grind it out. It’s been a long campaign and we have worked so hard.”
Australia have to avoid a five-goal defeat in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to be sure after the west Asian team won 2-0 in Bahrain.
Kyrgyzstan will not be among those competing for the remaining slots after their 2-2 draw with North Korea in Riyadh ended their chances of going through to the fourth round.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.