The 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States may be more than 900 days away, but for some the journey is already over.
On a brisk October afternoon, Mongolia became one of them. Supporters from capital city Ulaanbaatar and beyond had packed the MFF Football Centre, but as the evening light faded behind the towering Soviet-style apartment blocks that overlook the modest 5,000-capacity facility, fans were coming to terms with the fact that Mongolia’s World Cup quest would last no longer than a two-legged defeat to Afghanistan.
Those fans, many wrapped in red-and-blue scarves over the padded winter coats that will become indispensable here with winter temperatures soon to dip dramatically, filed out quietly. Folded neatly away, awaiting its next outing, a huge Mongolian flag will now be put into storage.
While the World Cup’s revamped 48-team format affords many less illustrious nations a reasonable chance of playing in football’s showpiece event, Asia’s lowest-ranked sides can see their hopes extinguished brutally quickly. By the end of the day on October 17, Guam, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, the Maldives, Macau, Laos, Bhutan, Brunei and Cambodia had all been eliminated, the latter by a Pakistan outfit coached by Englishman Stephen Constantine.
Guam earned the dubious honour of being the first team dumped out of 2026 World Cup qualifying, going down 3-1 on aggregate to Singapore despite two valiant displays from an island of 170,000 people. Just hours later, Mongolia’s challenge was in tatters too, but in more bizarre fashion than anybody could have possibly imagined…
MONGOLIA VS MOURINHO
Mongolia doesn’t exactly have the greatest footballing pedigree. In fact, the sport is still vyingup the Naadam Festival that shuts down the entire country in August.
