2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round

The AFC Third Round of 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification began on 9 February 2005 and finished on 17 August 2005.

The top two countries in each group at the end of the stage qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while the third-placed teams entered a play-off to determine an entrant for the play-off with the fifth-placed CONCACAF team.

Format

The 8 group-winners from the previous round were split into two groups of four teams each – with all teams playing home and away against each of the other three teams in the group.

The top two teams in each group qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The pots were as follows:

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
South Korea  Japan	Saudi Arabia  Iran	Bahrain  Uzbekistan	Kuwait  North Korea

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Saudi Arabia 6 4 2 0 10 1 +9 14  South Korea 6 3 1 2 9 5 +4 10  Uzbekistan 6 1 2 3 7 11 −4 5  Kuwait 6 1 1 4 4 13 −9 4

South Korea  – 2–0 0–1 2–1 Kuwait  0–4 – 0–0 2–1 Saudi Arabia  2–0 3–0 – 3–0 Uzbekistan  1–1 3–2 1–1 –

South Korea  v  Kuwait

9 February 2005

South Korea	2–0	Kuwait
Lee Dong-Gook  23' Lee Young-Pyo  81'	(Report)

Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul Attendance: 53,287 Referee: Shamsul Maidin (Singapore)

Uzbekistan  v  Saudi Arabia

9 February 2005

Uzbekistan	1–1	Saudi Arabia
Soliev  90+3'	(Report)	Al-Jaber  77'

Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)

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Saudi Arabia  v  South Korea

25 March 2005

Saudi Arabia	2–0	South Korea
Khariri  29' Al-Qahtani  73' (pen.)	(Report)

Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)

Kuwait  v  Uzbekistan

25 March 2005

Kuwait	2–1	Uzbekistan
Abdullah  7', 62'	(Report)	Geynrikh  77'

Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Sun Baojie (China PR)

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Kuwait  v  Saudi Arabia

30 March 2005

Kuwait	0–0	Saudi Arabia
	(Report)

Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Masoud Moradi (Iran)

South Korea  v  Uzbekistan

30 March 2005

South Korea	2–1	Uzbekistan
Lee Young-Pyo  55' Lee Dong-Gook  62'	(Report)	Geynrikh  79'

Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul Attendance: 62,857 Referee: Tallat Najm (Lebanon)

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Saudi Arabia  v  Kuwait

3 June 2005

Saudi Arabia	3–0	Kuwait
Al-Shalhoub  19', 49' Al-Harthi  83'	(Report)

King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh Attendance: 72,000 Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)

Uzbekistan  v  South Korea

3 June 2005

Uzbekistan	1–1	South Korea
Shatskikh  62'	(Report)	Park Chu-Young  90+1'

Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Masoud Moradi (Iran)

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Kuwait  v  South Korea

8 June 2005

Kuwait	0–4	South Korea
	(Report)	Park Chu-Young  19' Lee Dong-Gook  29' (pen.) Chung Kyung-ho  55' Park Ji-Sung  61'

Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Adunyachart Khanthama (Thailand)

Saudi Arabia  v  Uzbekistan

8 June 2005

Saudi Arabia	3–0	Uzbekistan
Al-Jaber  8', 60' Al-Harthi  87'	(Report)

King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh Attendance: 72,000 Referee: Huang Junjie (China PR)

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South Korea  v  Saudi Arabia

17 August 2005

South Korea	0–1	Saudi Arabia
	(Report)	Al-Anbar  5'

Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul Attendance: 61,586 Referee: Chaiwat Kunsuta (Thailand)

Uzbekistan  v  Kuwait

17 August 2005

Uzbekistan	3–2	Kuwait
Djeparov  41' (pen.) Shatskikh  62' Soliev  76'	(Report)	Al-Mutawa  16' Abdullah  31'

Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Japan 6 5 0 1 9 4 +5 15  Iran 6 4 1 1 7 3 +4 13  Bahrain 6 1 1 4 4 7 −3 4  North Korea 6 1 0 5 5 11 −6 3

Bahrain  – 0–0 0–1 2–3 Iran  1–0 – 2–1 1–0 Japan  1–0 2–1 – 2–1 North Korea  1–2 0–2 0–2 –

Japan  v  North Korea

9 February 2005

Japan	2–1	North Korea
Ogasawara  4' Oguro  90+1'	(Report)	Nam Song-Chol  61'

Saitama Stadium, Saitama Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

Bahrain  v  Iran

9 February 2005

Bahrain	0–0	Iran
	(Report)

Bahrain National Stadium, Manama Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)

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North Korea  v  Bahrain

25 March 2005

North Korea	1–2	Bahrain
Pak Song-Gwan  63'	(Report)	Ali  7', 58'

Kim Il Sung Stadium, Pyongyang Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Mongkol Rungklay (Thailand)

Iran  v  Japan

25 March 2005

Iran	2–1	Japan
Hashemian  13', 75'	(Report)	Fukunishi  66'

Azadi Stadium, Tehran Attendance: 110,000 Referee: Shamsul Maidin (Singapore)

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North Korea  v  Iran

30 March 2005

North Korea	0–2	Iran
	(Report)	Mahdavikia  34' Nekounam  79'

Kim Il Sung Stadium, Pyongyang Attendance: 55,000 Referee: Mohammed Kousa (Syria)

Japan  v  Bahrain

30 March 2005

Japan	1–0	Bahrain
Salmeen  72' (o.g.)	(Report)

Saitama Stadium, Saitama Attendance: 67,549 Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

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Iran  v  North Korea

3 June 2005

Iran	1–0	North Korea
Rezaei  45'	(Report)

Azadi Stadium, Tehran Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

Bahrain  v  Japan

3 June 2005

Bahrain	0–1	Japan
	(Report)	Ogasawara  34'

Bahrain National Stadium, Manama Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)

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Iran  v  Bahrain

8 June 2005

Iran	1–0	Bahrain
Nosrati  48'	(Report)

Azadi Stadium, Tehran Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Kwon Jong-Chul (Korea Republic)

Note: This match was used as backdrop for the 2006 Iranian film Offside.

North Korea  v  Japan

8 June 2005

North Korea	0–2	Japan
	(Report)	Yanagisawa  67' Oguro  89'

Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok (Thailand) Attendance: 0 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

Note: Since there were crowd troubles in the previous two North Korea's home matches,^[1] FIFA decided that the next one North Korea's home match be moved to a neutral venue (Thailand) and played behind closed doors.^[2]

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Japan  v  Iran

17 August 2005

Japan	2–1	Iran
Kaji  28' Oguro  76'	(Report)	Daei  79' (pen.)

International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama Attendance: 66,098 Referee: Qasem Shaban (Kuwait)

Bahrain  v  North Korea

17 August 2005

Bahrain	2–3	North Korea
Isa  49' Ali  54'	(Report)	Choe Chol-Man  28' Kim Chol-Ho  43' An Chol-Hyok  90'

Bahrain National Stadium, Manama Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Shamsul Maidin (Singapore)

References

1. "FIFA decision on N Korea on April 29". The-AFC.com. 27 April 2005. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
2. "FIFA.com - Korea DPR to play Japan in Thailand". FIFA.com. 9 May 2005. Retrieved 3 October 2011.