2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Tournament details
Dates 12 March 2015 – 10 October 2017
Teams 46 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 164
Goals scored 531 (3.24 per match)
Attendance 2,383,231 (14,532 per match)
Top scorer(s) Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Sahlawi (14 goals)

The Asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Russia, for national teams which are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). A total of 4.5 slots (4 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament are available for AFC teams.[1]

On 16 April 2014, the AFC Executive Committee approved a proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup, which will be expanded to 24 teams starting in 2019.[2] Therefore, the first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers also act as qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Format

The qualification structure is as follows:[2][3]

A total of 24 teams eliminated from World Cup qualification in the second round will compete in the third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification (which will be separate from the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification), where they will be divided into six groups of four teams and compete for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The 24 teams will consist of the 16 highest ranked teams eliminated in the second round, and the eight teams that advance from the play-off round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification which are contested by the remaining 12 teams eliminated in the second round.[4]

Entrants

The 46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification.[5] In order to determine which nations would compete in the first round and which nations would receive a bye through to the second round, the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015 were used (shown in parentheses), as that was the latest published rankings prior to the first round draw. The FIFA Rankings of January 2015 were also used for seeding of the first round draw; however, for seeding in the second round and third round draws, the most recent FIFA Rankings prior to those draws will be used.

From the January 2015 FIFA World Rankings[6]
Bye to the second round
(Ranked 1st to 34th)		 Competing in first round
(Ranked 35th to 46th)
  1.  Iran (51)
  2.  Japan (54)
  3.  South Korea (69)
  4.  Uzbekistan (71)
  5.  United Arab Emirates (80)
  6.  Qatar (92)
  7.  Oman (93)
  8.  Jordan (93)
  9.  China PR (96)
  10.  Australia (100)
  11.  Saudi Arabia (102)
  12.  Bahrain (110)
  13.  Iraq (114)
  14.  Palestine (115)
  15.  Lebanon (122)
  16.  Kuwait (125)
  17.  Philippines (129)
  1.  Maldives (131)
  2.  Vietnam (133)
  3.  Tajikistan (136)
  4.  Myanmar (141)
  5.  Afghanistan (142)
  6.  Thailand (144)
  7.  Turkmenistan (147)
  8.  North Korea (150)
  9.  Syria (151)
  10.  Kyrgyzstan (152)
  11.  Malaysia (154)
  12.  Hong Kong (156)
  13.  Singapore (157)
  14.  Indonesia (159)
  15.  Laos (160)
  16.  Guam (161)
  17.  Bangladesh (165)
  1.  India (171)
  2.  Sri Lanka (172)
  3.  Yemen (176)
  4.  Cambodia (179)
  5.  Chinese Taipei (182)
  6.  Timor-Leste (185)
  7.    Nepal (186)
  8.  Macau (186)
  9.  Pakistan (188)
  10.  Mongolia (194)
  11.  Brunei (198)
  12.  Bhutan (209)

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[7][8][9]

Round Matchday Date
First round First leg 12 March 2015
Second leg 17 March 2015
Second round Matchday 1 11 June 2015
Matchday 2 16 June 2015
Matchday 3 3 September 2015
Matchday 4 8 September 2015
Matchday 5 8 October 2015
Matchday 6 13 October 2015
Matchday 7 12 November 2015
Matchday 8 17 November 2015
Matchday 9 24 March 2016
Matchday 10 29 March 2016
Round Matchday Date
Third round Matchday 1 1 September 2016
Matchday 2 6 September 2016
Matchday 3 6 October 2016
Matchday 4 11 October 2016
Matchday 5 15 November 2016
Matchday 6 23 March 2017
Matchday 7 28 March 2017
Matchday 8 13 June 2017
Matchday 9 31 August 2017
Matchday 10 5 September 2017
Fourth round First leg 5 October 2017
Second leg 10 October 2017

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.[10]

First round

The draw for the first round was held on 10 February 2015, 15:30 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[11]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
India  2–0    Nepal 2–0 0–0
Yemen  3–1  Pakistan 3–1 0–0
Timor-Leste  5–1  Mongolia 4–1 1–0
Cambodia  4–1  Macau 3–0 1–1
Chinese Taipei  2–1  Brunei 0–1 2–0
Sri Lanka  1–3  Bhutan 0–1 1–2

Second round

The draw for the second round was held on 14 April 2015, at 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[12][13]

Groups

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Saudi Arabia 8 6 2 0 28 4 +24 20 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–1 3–2 2–0 7–0
2  United Arab Emirates 8 5 2 1 25 4 +21 17 1–1 — 2–0 10–0 8–0
3  Palestine 8 3 3 2 22 6 +16 12 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–0 0–0 — 6–0 7–0
4  Malaysia 8 1 1 6 3 30 −27 4 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 0–6 — 1–1
5  Timor-Leste 8 0 2 6 2 36 −34 2 0–10 0–1 1–1 0–1 —
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. ↑ The Malaysia v Saudi Arabia match, on 8 September 2015, was abandoned during the 87th minute after a group of supporters threw objects onto the pitch. At the time of the abandonment the score was 2–1 to Saudi Arabia. On 5 October 2015, FIFA decided that this match was forfeited and the result to be declared as a 0–3 loss for Malaysia.[15][16]

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 8 7 0 1 29 4 +25 21 Third round and Asian Cup — 5–1 3–0 7–0 5–0
2  Jordan 8 5 1 2 21 7 +14 16 Asian Cup qualifying third round 2–0 — 0–0 3–0 8–0
3  Kyrgyzstan 8 4 2 2 10 8 +2 14 1–2 1–0 — 2–2 2–0
4  Tajikistan 8 1 2 5 9 20 −11 5 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–3 1–3 0–1 — 5–0
5  Bangladesh 8 0 1 7 2 32 −30 1 0–4 0–4 1–3 1–1 —
Source: FIFA

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Qatar 8 7 0 1 29 4 +25 21 Third round and Asian Cup — 1–0 2–0 4–0 15–0
2  China PR 8 5 2 1 27 1 +26 17 2–0 — 0–0 4–0 12–0
3  Hong Kong 8 4 2 2 13 5 +8 14 Asian Cup qualifying third round 2–3 0–0 — 2–0 7–0
4  Maldives 8 2 0 6 8 20 −12 6 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–1 0–3 0–1 — 4–2
5  Bhutan 8 0 0 8 5 52 −47 0 0–3 0–6 0–1 3–4 —
Source: FIFA

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iran 8 6 2 0 26 3 +23 20 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–0 3–1 6–0 4–0
2  Oman 8 4 2 2 11 7 +4 14 Asian Cup qualifying third round 1–1 — 3–1 1–0 3–0
3  Turkmenistan 8 4 1 3 10 11 −1 13 1–1 2–1 — 1–0 2–1
4  Guam 8 2 1 5 3 16 −13 7 0–6 0–0 1–0 — 2–1
5  India 8 1 0 7 5 18 −13 3 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 1–2 1–0 —
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. ↑ FIFA awarded Iran a 3–0 win as a result of India fielding the ineligible player Eugeneson Lyngdoh.[17] The match initially ended 3–0 to Iran.

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan 8 7 1 0 27 0 +27 22 Third round and Asian Cup — 5–0 0–0 5–0 3–0
2  Syria 8 6 0 2 26 11 +15 18 0–3 — 1–0 5–2 6–0
3  Singapore 8 3 1 4 9 9 0 10 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 1–2 — 1–0 2–1
4  Afghanistan 8 3 0 5 8 24 −16 9 0–6 0–6 2–1 — 3–0
5  Cambodia 8 0 0 8 1 27 −26 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–2 0–6 0–4 0–1 —
Source: FIFA

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Thailand 6 4 2 0 14 6 +8 14 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–2 1–0 4–2 —
2  Iraq 6 3 3 0 13 6 +7 12 2–2 — 1–0 5–1 —
3  Vietnam 6 2 1 3 7 8 −1 7 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 1–1 — 4–1 —
4  Chinese Taipei 6 0 0 6 5 19 −14 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–2 0–2 1–2 — —
5  Indonesia (D) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified due to FIFA suspension[lower-alpha 1] — — — — —
Source: FIFA
(D) Disqualified.
Notes:
  1. ↑ On 30 May 2015, FIFA announced that the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was suspended with immediate effect for governmental interference.[18] On 3 June 2015, the AFC confirmed that Indonesia have been excluded from the qualifying competition, and all matches involving them have been cancelled.[19]

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  South Korea 8 8 0 0 27 0 +27 24 Third round and Asian Cup — 1–0 3–0[lower-alpha 1] 4–0 8–0
2  Lebanon 8 3 2 3 12 6 +6 11 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 — 0–1 1–1 7–0
3  Kuwait[lower-alpha 1] 8 3 1 4 12 10 +2 10 0–1 0–0 — 9–0 0–3[lower-alpha 1]
4  Myanmar 8 2 2 4 9 21 −12 8 0–2 0–2 3–0[lower-alpha 1] — 3–1
5  Laos 8 1 1 6 6 29 −23 4 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–5 0–2 0–2 2–2 —
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 4 On 16 October 2015, FIFA announced that the Kuwait Football Association (KFA) was suspended with immediate effect, following a decision from the FIFA Executive Committee that sports law of Kuwait had to be changed before 15 October.[20] The Myanmar v Kuwait match, scheduled for 17 November 2015, was not played due to that suspension,[21] and on 13 January 2016, FIFA decided that that match should be forfeited by Kuwait, and awarded as a 3–0 win for Myanmar.[22] The Kuwait v Laos and South Korea v Kuwait matches, scheduled for 24 and 29 March 2016 respectively, did not take place as scheduled, and on 6 April, FIFA decided that those matches should be forfeited by Kuwait, and awarded as 3–0 wins for Laos and South Korea.[23]

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uzbekistan 8 7 0 1 20 7 +13 21 Third round and Asian Cup — 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–0
2  North Korea 8 5 1 2 14 8 +6 16 Asian Cup qualifying third round 4–2 — 0–0 2–0 1–0
3  Philippines 8 3 1 4 8 12 −4 10 1–5 3–2 — 2–1 0–1
4  Bahrain 8 3 0 5 10 10 0 9 0–4 0–1 2–0 — 3–0
5  Yemen 8 1 0 7 2 17 −15 3 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 1–3 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 0–4 —
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. ↑ FIFA awarded North Korea a 3–0 win as a result of Yemen fielding the ineligible player Mudir Al-Radaei, after North Korea had defeated Yemen 1–0. Al-Radaei failed to serve an automatic one match suspension for receiving two yellow cards earlier in the First Round of the competition.[24]

Ranking of runner-up teams

To determine the four best runner-up teams, the following criteria were used:

  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Goal difference
  3. Goals scored
  4. Play-off match(es) on neutral ground (if approved by FIFA Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.[25]

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 F  Iraq 6 3 3 0 13 6 +7 12 Third round and Asian Cup
2 E  Syria 6 4 0 2 14 11 +3 12
3 A  United Arab Emirates 6 3 2 1 16 4 +12 11
4 C  China PR 6 3 2 1 9 1 +8 11
5 H  North Korea 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10 Asian Cup qualifying third round
6 B  Jordan 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 10
7 D  Oman 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 8
8 G  Lebanon 6 1 2 3 3 6 −3 5
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points from matches against teams ranked first, third and fourth in the group; 2) Goal difference from these matches; 3) Goals scored in these matches; 4) Play-off

Third round

The third round will consist of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group will proceed to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two group third-placed teams will proceed to the fourth round.

The draw for the third round was held on 12 April 2016, at 16:30 MST (UTC+8), at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[26][27]

Groups

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup — 11 Oct '16 13 Jun '17 28 Mar '17 1 Sep '16 5 Sep '17
1  South Korea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 Aug '17 — 15 Nov '16 1 Sep '16 6 Oct '16 28 Mar '17
1  Uzbekistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to fourth round 6 Oct '16 5 Sep '17 — 11 Oct '16 28 Mar '17 1 Sep '16
1  China PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Sep '16 23 Mar '17 31 Aug '17 — 15 Nov '16 6 Oct '16
1  Qatar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Mar '17 13 Jun '17 6 Sep '16 5 Sep '17 — 11 Oct '16
1  Syria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Nov '16 6 Sep '16 23 Mar '17 13 Jun '17 31 Aug '17 —
First match(es) will be played on 1 September 2016. Source: FIFA

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup — 11 Oct '16 8 Jun '17 28 Mar '17 1 Sep '16 5 Sep '17
1  Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 Aug '17 — 15 Nov '16 1 Sep '16 6 Oct '16 28 Mar '17
1  Saudi Arabia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to fourth round 6 Oct '16 5 Sep '17 — 11 Oct '16 28 Mar '17 1 Sep '16
1  United Arab Emirates 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Sep '16 23 Mar '17 31 Aug '17 — 15 Nov '16 6 Oct '16
1  Iraq 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Mar '17 13 Jun '17 6 Sep '16 5 Sep '17 — 11 Oct '16
1  Thailand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Nov '16 6 Sep '16 23 Mar '17 13 Jun '17 31 Aug '17 —
First match(es) will be played on 1 September 2016. Source: FIFA

Fourth round

The two third-placed teams in each group from the third round will play against each other home-and-away over two legs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Third round Group A third place Third round Group B third place 5 Oct '17 10 Oct '17

Inter-confederation play-offs

The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg.[28] The fifth-placed team from AFC was drawn against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, with the AFC team hosting the second leg.[29]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
CONCACAF 4th place Play-off 1 AFC 5th place 6 Nov '17 14 Nov '17

Goalscorers

As of all matches played on 29 March 2016

Note: Players in bold are still active in the competition.

14 goals
11 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup™ confederation slots maintained". FIFA.com. 30 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Draw Procedures – Asian Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  4. ↑ "World Cup draw looms large in Asia". FIFA.com. 13 April 2015. Completing the tournament's qualifying contenders will be the next 16 highest ranked teams, with the remaining 12 sides battling it out in play-off matches to claim the last eight spots.
  5. ↑ "Road to Russia with new milestone". FIFA.com. 15 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "FIFA Men's Ranking – January 2015 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 8 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015" (PDF). AFC.
  8. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC.
  9. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017" (PDF). AFC.
  10. ↑ "FIFA Calendar". FIFA.com.
  11. ↑ "India v Nepal headlines 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers draw". AFC. 10 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "Draw date set for Round 2 of 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers". AFC. 26 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Draw: Russia 2018 / UAE 2019 Joint Qualification Round 2". AFC. 15 April 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  15. ↑ Rashvinjeet S. Bedi; T. Avineshwaran (8 September 2015). "Malaysia-Saudi match abandoned after crowd trouble". The Star. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Malaysian FA sanctioned after abandonment of FIFA World Cup qualifier". FIFA.com. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "DISCIPLINARY OVERVIEW – 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP RUSSIA™ QUALIFIERS" (PDF). FIFA. 1 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup™ confederation slots maintained". FIFA.com. 30 May 2015.
  19. ↑ "Impact of Football Association of Indonesia suspension". AFC. 3 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "Suspension of the Kuwait Football Association". FIFA.com. 16 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "FIFA statement on Myanmar-Kuwait qualifier". FIFA.com. 17 November 2015.
  22. ↑ "Kuwait sanctioned after unplayed FIFA World Cup™ qualifier". FIFA. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "Kuwait's matches against Laos and Korea Republic forfeited". FIFA.com. 6 April 2016.
  24. ↑ "Yemen sanctioned for fielding ineligible player". FIFA. 6 July 2015.
  25. ↑ "Criteria to Determine the Rankings of Best-placed Teams among the Groups" (PDF). AFC.
  26. ↑ "2018 FIFA World Cup: Asian Qualifying Round 3 line up complete". Asian Football Confederation. 30 March 2016.
  27. ↑ "Stage set for Russia 2018 Asian Qualifiers Final Round draw". Asian Football Confederation. 10 April 2016.
  28. ↑ "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined". fifa.com. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  29. ↑ "The Preliminary Draw results in full". FIFA.com. 25 July 2015.

External links

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