October 16 – The second international window of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup has seen old stagers and emerging nations stake a claim for a spot in the finals to be jointly held in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
October 15 – After a year on the sidelines, one of the Saudi Pro League superstar players could finally be back on the pitch. Brazilian international, Neymar, who has been out injured since sustaining a torn ACL and meniscus in his left knee while on international duty has returned to training with Al-Hilal.
October 15 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has added a new course to its range of educational training courses and qualifications run by its Academic Centre of Excellence (ACE).
October 9 – It is only the third match day of ten, but already the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup are reaching a crucial, must-win stage for some of the AFC’s established international nations.
October 7 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have signed a four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) to combat match fixing in the Asian region.
October 3 – Is FIFA finally running out of patience with Israel? Following delay after delay over Palestinian demands for action, a decision on whether or not to suspend Israel from international football is set to be taken by the FIFA Council today.
October 2 – Having battled against each other for their nations in the 2023 Asian Cup final in February, Jordanian striker Yazan Al Naimat and Qatar’s mercurial Arkram Afif will do battle again in the AFC’s Player of the Year awards.
October 1 – The AFC is doubling the funding it provides to its five Regional Associations (RA) in the 2025-28 cycle to $500,000 a year.
September 30 – The inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League is poised for kickoff this week with three centralised groups of four clubs each open the group stage to qualify eight teams to the knock-out rounds.
September 26 – The Lebanese FA has indefinitely postponed all matches domestically in the wake of Israel’s attacks in southern Lebanon and rising fears of an all-out war.
September 26 – The AFC’s Associations Committee noted that 44 Member Associations and all five Regional Associations have either completed or are in the midst of finalising their Statutes Revision process.
September 25 – South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo has denied his appointment was the result of preferential treatment from the Korea Football Association (KFA).
September 25 – The AFC is committing to a deeper and more engaged digital engagement strategy for its new club competition following the record numbers achieved for its national team competitions this year.
September 23 – North Korea’s return to international football post-pandemic has been nothing short of spectacular with the defeat of Japan 1-0 in the final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup to claim the tournament for a third time.
September 20 – After six years in charge, Graham Arnold has stepped down as Australia’s head coach ahead of their next World Cup qualifier in October.
