The twelve teams that advanced from the second round (the seven group winners excluding Qatar and the five best group runners-up) will be divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round. World Cup hosts Qatar won Group E in the second round (which meant they advanced to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup finals) but were not required to qualify for the World Cup.