The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has modified the selection process and Nepal has made it to the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. According to the new procedure of AFC, Nepal will not have to play in the playoffs. According to the AFC, (China) the host of the Asian Cup, (Qatar) the host of the World Cup and the previous winner of the Asian Cup, will also advance to the third round after qualifying for the World Cup and the Asian Cup. Along with this rule, the top three teams in the middle and the third and fourth place teams 8-8 made it to the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers.

The AFC said the top three teams in fifth place also made it to the third round. Now only the bottom four teams in the fifth place have to play in the playoffs. Now only Indonesia, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei and Guam will play in the playoffs. The two winning teams in the playoffs will secure a place in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Earlier, Nepal was ranked fourth in Group B and had to play in the playoffs. But now with the revision of the AFC, the Maldives, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka have also moved up to fourth place with Thailand, Singapore, Mongolia and Afghanistan in the third round. Similarly, Yemen, Bangladesh and Myanmar, which are at the bottom of the group, have also reached the third stage. The equation has changed since North Korea withdrew from the selection process.

With the conclusion of the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, it has been decided who will play in the World Cup qualifiers from Asia, be selected in the Asian Cup and play in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers. The top five teams to finish second along with the winners of all the groups were in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers and in the Asian Cup. Accordingly, Japan, Syria, Qatar, South Korea, Australia, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Vietnam, Lebanon and China are directly selected for the Asian Cup and are trying to make it to the World Cup.

The team that failed to become the top team despite being in the second place will also play the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers. These include Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, and Jordan, Bahrain, Palestine, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Mongolia.