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2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

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2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Tournament details
Dates12 March 2015 – 10 October 2017
Teams46[note 1] (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played223
Goals scored665 (2.98 per match)
Attendance4,377,585 (19,630 per match)
Top scorer(s)Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Sahlawi[A]
United Arab Emirates Ahmed Khalil
(16 goals each)
← 2014
2022 →
AFC Asian Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
AFC Asian Cup

The Asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, held in Russia, for national teams which were members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). 4.5 slots (four direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament were 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 expanded to 24 teams starting in 2019.[2] Therefore, the first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers also acted as qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Format

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

  • First round: 12 teams (ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
  • Second round: 40 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.
  • Third round: 12 teams (an increase from ten for 2014) which had advanced from the second round were divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams advanced to the fourth round.
  • Fourth round: Two third-placed teams of each group from the third round played home-and-away over two legs. The winners advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Entrants

The 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), as those were 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 were used.

First ever participation of Bhutan. Recorded for the qualifications of 2010, this selection withdrew without playing a game (initial draw preview first round against Kuwait)

From the January 2015 FIFA World Rankings[5]
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 (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)
  18.  Maldives (131)
  19.  Vietnam (133)
  20.  Tajikistan (136)
  21.  Myanmar (141)
  22.  Afghanistan (142)
  23.  Thailand (144)
  24.  Turkmenistan (147)
  25.  North Korea (150)
  26.  Syria (151)
  27.  Kyrgyzstan (152)
  28.  Malaysia (154)
  29.  Hong Kong (156)
  30.  Singapore (157)
  31.  Indonesia (159)
  32.  Laos (160)
  33.  Guam (161)
  34.  Bangladesh (165)
  1.  India (171)
  2.  Sri Lanka (172)
  3.  Yemen (176)
  4.  Cambodia (179)
  5.  Chinese Taipei (182)
  6.  East Timor (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 was as follows.[6][7][8]

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

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.[9]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
India  2–0    Nepal 2–0 0–0
Yemen  3–1  Pakistan 3–1 0–0
East Timor  5-1[N 1]  Mongolia 4–1[N 1] 1–0[N 1]
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
Notes
  1. ^ a b c On 12 December 2017, Timor-Leste were ordered by the AFC to forfeit both matches against Mongolia due to the use of falsified documents for their players.

Second round

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC 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.[10][11]

Summary

  Qualified for the Third Round and Asian Cup as winners or top four runners-up
  Advanced to the Third Asian Cup qualifying round as bottom four runners-up, third place, or top four fourth placed team
  Advanced to the AFC Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.
  Denotes a team that was disqualified as a result of a FIFA suspension.
Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates (Third round only)
Australia
Qatar

China
Iran
Japan

Syria
Thailand

Iraq
South Korea
Uzbekistan

Palestine
Jordan

Kyrgyzstan
Hong Kong
Oman

Turkmenistan

Guam
Singapore

Afghanistan
Vietnam
Lebanon

Kuwait

Myanmar
North Korea

Philippines

Bahrain

Malaysia

East Timor
Tajikistan

Bangladesh
Maldives

Bhutan
India
Cambodia
Chinese Taipei
Laos
Yemen

Indonesia

Groups

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[12]
  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Overall goal difference
  3. Overall goals scored
  4. Points in matches between tied teams
  5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams
  6. Goals scored in matches between tied teams
  7. Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
  8. Fair play points
    • first yellow card: minus 1 point
    • indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points
    • direct red card: minus 4 points
    • yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
  9. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

Group A

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group A table

Group B

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group B table

Group C

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group C table

Group D

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group D table

Group E

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group E table

Group F

Indonesia was also drawn into this group, but on 30 May 2015 the country's football association was suspended due to governmental interference, and on 3 June 2015 the team was disqualified and all matches involving it were cancelled.Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group F table

Group G

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group G table

Group H

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group H table

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. Fair play points
  5. Drawing of lots

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.[13] Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Runners-up table

Third round

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round

The third round consisted of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two third-placed teams proceeded 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.[14][15]

Groups

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[16]
  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Overall goal difference
  3. Overall goals scored
  4. Points in matches between tied teams
  5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams
  6. Goals scored in matches between tied teams
  7. Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
  8. Fair play points
    • first yellow card: minus 1 point
    • indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points
    • direct red card: minus 4 points
    • yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
  9. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

Group A

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round Group A table

Group B

Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round Group B table

Fourth round

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round

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

The order of legs was announced during the draw for the third round.[17] Syria played their home match, as with all their home matches in the third round, in Malaysia due to the war time condition in Syria.[18]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Syria  2–3  Australia 1–1 1–2 (a.e.t.)

Intercontinental play-offs

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF–AFC play-off)

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.[19] The fifth-placed team from AFC was drawn against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, with the AFC team hosting the second leg.[20]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Honduras  1–3  Australia 0–0 1–3

Qualified teams

The following five teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 Iran Third Round Group A winners 12 June 2017 4 (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014)
 Japan Third Round Group B winners 31 August 2017 5 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
 South Korea Third Round Group A runners-up 5 September 2017 9 (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)
 Saudi Arabia Third Round Group B runners-up 5 September 2017 4 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 Australia CONCACAF v AFC play-off winners 15 November 2017 4 (19742, 20062, 2010, 2014)
1 Italic indicates hosts for that year.
2 Australia qualified as a member of the OFC in 1974 and 2006 (qualifying took place until 2005 and they left the OFC and joined the AFC in 2006).

Top goalscorers

There were 668 goals scored in 225 matches (including 2 international play-offs), for an average of 2.97 goals per match.

16 goals
11 goals
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
For full lists of goalscorers, see sections in each round:

Notes

  1. ^ Kuwait disqualified after playing five matches. Indonesia disqualified before playing.
  1. ^ a b c d e This player's goal tally includes one or more goals which the player scored in matches that were subsequently forfeited, but which FIFA still continued to count in its statistics.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup™ confederation slots maintained". FIFA.com. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". Chollima Football Fans (in Italian). 11 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Draw Procedures – Asian Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Road to Russia with new milestone". FIFA.com. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015.
  5. ^ "FIFA Men's Ranking – January 2015 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015.
  6. ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015" (PDF). AFC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 April 2015.
  7. ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2017.
  8. ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017" (PDF). AFC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2017.
  9. ^ "India v Nepal headlines 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers draw". AFC. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Draw date set for Round 2 of 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers". AFC. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Draw: Russia 2018 / UAE 2019 Joint Qualification Round 2". AFC. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
  13. ^ "Criteria to Determine the Rankings of Best-placed Teams among the Groups" (PDF). AFC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2015.
  14. ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup: Asian Qualifying Round 3 line up complete". Asian Football Confederation. 30 March 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Stage set for Russia 2018 Asian Qualifiers Final Round draw". Asian Football Confederation. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Draw Mechanics for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ Asian Qualifiers". YouTube. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Asian Play-off: MD1 (1st leg), 5 Oct 2017, A3 vs B3; MD2 (2nd leg), 10 Oct 2017, B3 vs A3. (Displayed in video at 1:40)
  18. ^ "Australia v Syria World Cup qualifier to be held in Malaysia, AFC confirms". ABC News. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017.
  19. ^ "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined". fifa.com. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  20. ^ "The Preliminary Draw results in full". FIFA.com. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
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