2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification

2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates 12 March 2015 – 27 March 2018
Teams 45 (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 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification is the qualification process organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine the participating teams for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the 17th edition of the international men's football championship of Asia. For the first time, the Asian Cup final tournament will be contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format that had been used since 2004.[1]

The qualification process will involve four rounds, where the first two will double as the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification for Asian teams.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

Team Method of
qualification		 Date of
qualification		 Finals
appearance		 Last
appearance		 Previous best
performance
 United Arab Emirates Hosts 9 March 2015 10th 2015 Runners-up (1996)
 Qatar Second Round Group C winners 17 November 2015 10th 2015 Quarter-finals (2000, 2011)
 South Korea Second Round Group G winners 13 January 2016 14th 2015 Winners (1956, 1960)
 Japan Second Round Group E winners 24 March 2016 9th 2015 Winners (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
 Thailand Second Round Group F winners 24 March 2016 7th 2007 Third Place (1972)
 Saudi Arabia Second Round Group A winners 24 March 2016 10th 2015 Winners (1984, 1988, 1996)
 Australia Second Round Group B winners 29 March 2016 4th 2015 Winners (2015)
 Uzbekistan Second Round Group H winners 29 March 2016 7th 2015 Fourth Place (2011)
 Syria Second Round Group E runners up 29 March 2016 6th 2011 Group Stage (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011)
 Iraq Second Round Group F runners up 29 March 2016 9th 2015 Winners (2007)
 Iran Second Round Group D winners 29 March 2016 14th 2015 Winners (1968, 1972, 1976)
 China PR Second Round Group C runners up 29 March 2016 12th 2015 Runners up (1984, 2004)
AFC Qualifiers

Format

The proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds for FIFA World Cup qualifiers with those for the Asian Cup was ratified by the AFC Competitions Committee.[1]

The qualification structure is as follows:[1]

The play-off round represented a change from the initially announced to the qualification format – which saw the remaining fourth-placed teams and the four best group fifth-placed teams also advance to the third round.[1] The brief descriptions of this additional stage of the tournament do not make it clear whether teams eliminated in the first round (or indeed, other eligible AFC teams) are able to participate in this stage of the tournament, or if they have been eliminated from contention.

Entrants

46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification.[4] 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).[5]

Bye to 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)

Due to the joint format of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, the hosts of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the United Arab Emirates will also enter the second round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers despite having qualified automatically.

Schedule

The schedule of the qualification competition is as follows.[6][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
Play-off round Round 1 First leg 2 June 2016
Round 1 Second leg 7 June 2016
Round 2 First leg 6 September 2016
Round 2 Second leg 11 October 2016
Third round Matchday 1 28 March 2017
Matchday 2 13 June 2017
Matchday 3 5 September 2017
Matchday 4 10 October 2017
Matchday 5 14 November 2017
Matchday 6 27 March 2018

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.[10]

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, 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[11][12]

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.[14][15]

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.[16] 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.[17] On 3 June 2015, the AFC confirmed that Indonesia have been excluded from the qualifying competition, and all matches involving them have been cancelled.[18]

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.[19] The Myanmar v Kuwait match, scheduled for 17 November 2015, was not played due to that suspension,[20] and on 13 January 2016, FIFA decided that that match should be forfeited by Kuwait, and awarded as a 3–0 win for Myanmar.[21] 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.[22]

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.[23]

Ranking of runner-up teams

To determine the four best runner-up teams, the following criteria are 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 contains only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team are not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.[24]

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

Ranking of fourth-placed teams

To determine the four best fourth-placed 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 AFC Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contains only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team are not counted when determining the ranking of the fourth-placed teams.[24]

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 D  Guam 6 1 1 4 1 14 −13 4 Asian Cup qualifying third round
2 G  Myanmar 6 1 1 4 4 18 −14 4
3 H  Bahrain 6 1 0 5 3 10 −7 3
4 E  Afghanistan 6 1 0 5 4 24 −20 3
5 B  Tajikistan 6 0 1 5 3 19 −16 1 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
6 F  Chinese Taipei 6 0 0 6 5 19 −14 0
7 C  Maldives 6 0 0 6 0 15 −15 0
8 A  Malaysia 6 0 0 6 1 29 −28 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points from matches against teams ranked first to third in the group; 2) Goal difference from these matches; 3) Goals scored in these matches; 4) Play-off

Play-off round

At an AFC Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that two rounds of play-off matches would be introduced into the qualification procedure to determine the final eight teams for the main qualifying round.[25][3] Two teams from this stage will progress to the AFC International Cup.[26]

A total of eight slots for the third round will be available from this round (five from round 1, three from round 2).[25]

The draw was held on 7 April 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[27]

Round 1

Except the lowest seeded team (Bhutan), the other ten teams were drawn into five pairs. Each pair will play two matches on 2 and 7 June 2016 with the winners qualifying for the third round.[3]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Chinese Taipei  Match 1  Cambodia 2 Jun 7 Jun
Maldives  Match 2  Yemen 2 Jun 7 Jun
Tajikistan  Match 3  Bangladesh 2 Jun 7 Jun
Malaysia  Match 4  Timor-Leste 2 Jun 7 Jun
Laos  Match 5  India 2 Jun 7 Jun

Round 2

The five losers from round 1 will join Bhutan in this round. The six teams will be drawn into three pairs. Each pair will play two matches on 6 September and 11 October 2016 with the winners qualifying for the third round.[25]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Loser of match 2 Loser of match 5 6 Sep 11 Oct
Loser of match 3  Bhutan 6 Sep 11 Oct
Loser of match 4 Loser of match 1 6 Sep 11 Oct

Third round

A total of 24 teams will compete in the third round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Since 2019 AFC Asian Cup hosts United Arab Emirates have advanced to the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the automatic slot for the hosts is no longer necessary, and a total of 12 slots for the AFC Asian Cup will be available from this round.

The draw for the third round will be held after the play-off round has been completed.

Qualified teams

Note: second round group position shown in small brackets.

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. 1 2 3 4 "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "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.
  3. 1 2 3 "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". Asian Football Confederation. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Road to Russia with new milestone". FIFA.com. 15 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "FIFA Men's Ranking – January 2015 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 8 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015" (PDF). AFC.
  7. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC.
  8. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017" (PDF). AFC.
  9. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2018" (PDF). AFC.
  10. ↑ "India v Nepal headlines 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers draw". AFC. 23 February 2015.
  11. ↑ "Draw date set for Round 2 of 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers". AFC. 5 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Draw: Russia 2018 / UAE 2019 Joint Qualification Round 2". AFC. 15 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com.
  14. ↑ Rashvinjeet S. Bedi; T. Avineshwaran (8 September 2015). "Malaysia-Saudi match abandoned after crowd trouble". The Star. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Malaysian FA sanctioned after abandonment of FIFA World Cup qualifier". FIFA.com. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "DISCIPLINARY OVERVIEW – 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP RUSSIA™ QUALIFIERS" (PDF). FIFA. 1 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup™ confederation slots maintained". FIFA.com. 30 May 2015.
  18. ↑ "Impact of Football Association of Indonesia suspension". AFC. 3 June 2015.
  19. ↑ "Suspension of the Kuwait Football Association". FIFA.com. 16 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "FIFA statement on Myanmar-Kuwait qualifier". FIFA.com. 17 November 2015.
  21. ↑ "Kuwait sanctioned after unplayed FIFA World Cup™ qualifier". FIFA. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  22. ↑ "Kuwait's matches against Laos and Korea Republic forfeited". FIFA.com. 6 April 2016.
  23. ↑ "Yemen sanctioned for fielding ineligible player". FIFA. 6 July 2015.
  24. 1 2 "Criteria to Determine the Rankings of Best-placed Teams among the Groups" (PDF). AFC.
  25. 1 2 3 "Stage set for UAE 2019 Qualifiers Play-off draw | AFC". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  26. ↑ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". www.the-afc.com. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  27. ↑ "UAE 2019 Qualifiers Play-off draw concluded". AFC. 7 April 2016.

External links

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