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	203
Goals scored	648 (3.19 per match)
Attendance	2,671,047 (13,158 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mohammad Al-Sahlawi (14 goals)
← 2015 2023 →

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.

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

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.

The qualification structure is as follows:

• First round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
• Second round: A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–34 and six first round winners) were divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches.
  • The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up advanced to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the AFC Asian Cup finals.
  • The next 16 highest ranked teams (the remaining four group runners-up, the eight third-placed teams and the four best group fourth-placed teams) advanced directly to the third round of Asian Cup qualification.
  • The remaining 12 teams entered the play-off round to contest the remaining eight spots in the third round of Asian Cup qualification.
• Play-off round: At a Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that a play-off round of qualifying would be introduced into the qualification procedure. There were two rounds of home-and-away two-legged play-off matches to determine the final eight qualifiers for the third round.
• Third round: The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four to play home-and-away round-robin matches, and they compete for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

The play-off round represented a change from the initially announced qualification format – which saw the remaining fourth-placed teams and the four best group fifth-placed teams also advance to the third round.

Schedule

The schedule of the qualification competition is as follows.

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

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC 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.

The six teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.

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

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC 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.

Groups

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers

In home-and-away league format, the ranking of teams in each group is based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7): Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) Goal difference Goals scored Points in matches between tied teams Goal difference in matches between tied teams Goals scored in matches between tied teams Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie is only between two teams) Play-off match(es) on neutral ground (if approved by FIFA Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Saudi Arabia	8	6	2	0	28	4	+24	20	Third round and Asian Cup
United Arab Emirates	8	5	2	1	27	4	+23	17
Palestine	8	4	2	2	24	5	+19	14	Asian Cup qualifying third round
Malaysia	8	2	0	6	7	29	−22	6	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
Template:Country data Timor-Leste	8	0	0	8	0	44	−44	0

Group B

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

Group C

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

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Iran	8	6	2	0	26	3	+23	20	Third round and Asian Cup
Oman	8	4	2	2	11	7	+4	14
Turkmenistan	8	4	1	3	10	11	−1	13	Asian Cup qualifying third round
Guam	8	2	1	5	3	16	−13	7	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
India	8	1	0	7	5	18	−13	3

Group E

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

Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Thailand	6	4	2	0	14	6	+8	14	Third round and Asian Cup
Iraq	6	3	3	0	13	6	+7	12
Vietnam	6	2	1	3	7	8	−1	7	Asian Cup qualifying third round
Chinese Taipei	6	0	0	6	5	19	−14	0	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
Indonesia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		Disqualified due to FIFA suspension

Group G

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Asian Cup qualifying third round
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
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Group H

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Asian Cup qualifying third round
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
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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.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
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[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Asian Cup qualifying third round
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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.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Asian Cup qualifying third round
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[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
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Play-off round

Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification – 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.

A total of eight slots for the third round were available from this round (five from round 1, three from round 2). The three teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.

The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 April 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Round 1

The lowest seeded team, Bhutan, received a bye, and the remaining ten teams were drawn into five pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.

The first legs were played on 2 June, and the second legs were played on 6–7 June 2016.

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Chinese Taipei	2–4	Cambodia	2–2	0–2
Maldives	0–4	Yemen	0–2	0–2
Tajikistan	6–0	Bangladesh	5–0	1–0
Malaysia	6–0	Timor-Leste	3–0 (Forfeited)	3–0 (Forfeited)
Laos	1–7	India	0–1	1–6

Note: Timor-Leste were ordered by the AFC to forfeit both matches against Malaysia due to the use of falsified documents for their players. Both matches originally ended as 3–0 wins to Malaysia.

Round 2

The five losers from round 1 joined Bhutan in this round. The six teams were drawn into three pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.

The first legs were played on 6 September and 8 October, and the second legs were played on 10 and 11 October 2016.

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Maldives	5–1	Laos	4–0	1–1
Bangladesh	1–3	Bhutan	0–0	1–3
Timor-Leste	2–4	Chinese Taipei	1–2	1–2

Third round

Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Third Round

A total of 24 teams will compete in the third round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Since the 2019 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.

Due to the withdrawal of Guam and the suspension of Kuwait, the AFC decided to invite both Nepal and Macau, the top two teams of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, to re-enter 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification as replacements in order to maintain 24 teams in the third round of the competition.

The draw for the third round was held on 23 January 2017, 16:00 GST, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four.

Groups

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
India	6	4	1	1	11	5	+6	13	Qualification to 2019 AFC Asian Cup
Kyrgyzstan	6	4	1	1	14	8	+6	13
Myanmar	6	2	2	2	10	10	0	8
Macau	6	0	0	6	4	16	−12	0

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Qualification to 2019 AFC Asian Cup
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Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Qualification to 2019 AFC Asian Cup
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Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Qualification to 2019 AFC Asian Cup
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]

Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Qualification to 2019 AFC Asian Cup
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
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Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]									Qualification to 2019 AFC Asian Cup
[[? {{{altlink}}}|?]]
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See also

• 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

External links

• AFC Asian Cup, the-AFC.com