Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers

The Asian Football Confederation's Pre-Olympic Tournament was held from 20 May 1995 to 27 March 1996. Twenty-five teams entered the qualification for the three allocated spots for the 1996 Summer Olympics Football tournament in Atlanta.

The qualification saw Korea Republic, Japan and Saudi Arabia winning their final round groups and qualifying to the Olympics.

Format

Asian berths for the final is 3.

First round
25 teams were grouped into 8 groups, where each group would consist of home and away round-robin tournament. The winners of each group would qualify to the second round. One group was consist of 4 teams, and the other 7 groups were each consist of 3 teams.
Second round
8 teams were grouped into 2 groups of 4 teams each, where each group would consist of round-robin tournament. The top two of each group would qualify to the third round.
Third round
This stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. 2 semi-finals were played, Group A winner VS Group B runner-up and Group B winner VS Group A runner-up. This was followed by the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final. The top three teams would qualify to the finals.

First round

The first round was played in eight groups held from 20 May 1995 to 29 October 1995. The winner of each group will be promoted to the final round.

Group 1

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  China PR 4400112+912
2  Singapore 411237-44
3  Malaysia 401316-51

China qualify to the second round.

Group 2

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Japan 4400161+1512
2  Thailand 4202126+66
3  Chinese Taipei 4004122-210

Japan qualify to the second round.

Group 3

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  South Korea 4400151+1412
2  Indonesia 420264+26
3  Hong Kong 4004117-160

South Korea qualify to the second round.

Group 4

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Oman 4400133+1012
2  India 420287+16
3  Pakistan 4004213-110

Oman qualify to the second round.

Group 5

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Kazakhstan 6510195+1416
2  Uzbekistan 6312128+410
3  Tajikistan 6114914-54
3  Kyrgyzstan 6114922-134

Kazakhstan qualify to the second round.

Group 6

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Saudi Arabia 431040+410
2  Kuwait 41213305
3  Syria 401326-41

Saudi Arabia qualify to the second round.

Group 7

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  United Arab Emirates 422053+28
2  Iran 421194+57
3  Turkmenistan 4013411-71

UAE qualify to the second round.

Group 8

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Iraq 422083+58
2  Qatar 421186+27
3  Jordan 4013411-71

Iraq qualify to the second round.

Second round

The second round and the third round of the Olympic Qualifiers (U-23 teams) are being played in Malaysia from 16 to 27 March 1996. Three of the four semifinal entrants will qualify for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA.

Group A

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Japan 321062+47
2  Iraq 321052+37
3  Oman 310246-23
4  United Arab Emirates 300327-50

Japan and Iraq qualify to the third round.

Group B

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  South Korea 321062+47
2  Saudi Arabia 312062+45
3  China PR 311156-14
4  Kazakhstan 3003310-70

South Korea and Saudi Arabia qualify to the third round.

Third round

Semifinal

Third Place Match

Final

South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia qualify to the 1996 Summer Olympics Football tournament in Atlanta.

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