Soccer Asia Cup 2004 / Qualification

The qualification for the 2004 Asian Cup in China took place between March and December 2003. Host China and defending champions Japan qualified directly for the finals.

Pre-qualification

The 20 worst-placed teams according to the FIFA world rankings started in the pre-qualification, which consisted of 7 groups. The first placed in each group were allowed to take part in the main qualification.

Preliminary group A

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Myanmar	2	7-0	6th
2	Maldives	2	1: 3	1
3	Brunei	2	1: 6	1

March 21, 2003
Maldives	-	Brunei	1: 1
March 23, 2003
Myanmar	-	Brunei	5-0
March 25, 2003
Maldives	-	Myanmar	0: 2

Preliminary group B

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Sri Lanka	2	5: 3	6th
2	Taiwan	2	4: 2	3
3	East Timor	2	2: 6	0

March 21, 2003
East Timor	-	Sri Lanka	2: 3
March 23, 2003
Taiwan	-	East Timor	3-0
March 25, 2003
Sri Lanka	-	Taiwan	2: 1

Preliminary group C

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Nepal	2	4: 2	3
2	Kyrgyzstan	2	3: 2	3
3	Afghanistan	2	2: 5	3

March 16, 2003
Kyrgyzstan	-	Afghanistan	1: 2
March 18, 2003
Nepal	-	Afghanistan	4-0
March 20, 2003
Nepal	-	Kyrgyzstan	0: 2

Preliminary group D

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Hong Kong	2	7: 3	4th
2	Laos	2	3: 6	3
3	Bangladesh	2	3: 4	1

March 25, 2003
Hong Kong	-	Laos	5: 1
March 27, 2003
Laos	-	Bangladesh	2: 1
March 30, 2003
Bangladesh	-	Hong Kong	2: 2

Preliminary group E

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Singapore	2	5-0	6th
2	Pakistan	2	3: 3	3
3	Macau	2	0: 5	0

March 21, 2003
Macau	-	Pakistan	0: 3
March 23, 2003
Singapore	-	Macau	2-0
March 25, 2003
Singapore	-	Pakistan	3-0

Preliminary group F

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Bhutan	2	6-0	4th
2	Mongolia	2	5-0	4th
3	Guam	2	0:11	0

March 23, 2003
Guam	-	Bhutan	0: 6
March 25, 2003
Guam	-	Mongolia	0: 5
March 27, 2003
Mongolia	-	Bhutan	0-0

Preliminary group G

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	North Korea	2	3: 1	4th
2	India	2	1: 3	1

March 24, 2003
North Korea	-	India	2-0
March 30, 2003
India	-	North Korea	1: 1

Main qualification

After the seven winners of the pre-qualification had been determined, they were drawn together with the remaining 21 teams in 7 groups of 4 teams each. The top two in each group qualified for the 2004 Asian Cup .

Group A

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Uzbekistan	6th	13: 6	13
2	Thailand	6th	10: 7	9
3	Tajikistan	6th	3: 5	8th
4th	Hong Kong	6th	3:11	4th

November 6, 2003
Thailand	-	Tajikistan	0: 1
November 6, 2003
Hong Kong	-	Uzbekistan	1: 4
November 8, 2003
Hong Kong	-	Tajikistan	0-0
November 8, 2003
Uzbekistan	-	Thailand	3-0
November 10, 2003
Hong Kong	-	Thailand	2: 1
November 10, 2003
Tajikistan	-	Uzbekistan	0-0
November 17, 2003
Thailand	-	Hong Kong	4-0
November 17, 2003
Uzbekistan	-	Tajikistan	4: 1
November 19, 2003
Tajikistan	-	Thailand	0: 1
November 19, 2003
Uzbekistan	-	Hong Kong	1-0
November 21, 2003
Tajikistan	-	Hong Kong	1-0
November 21, 2003
Thailand	-	Uzbekistan	4: 1

Group B

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Kuwait	6th	17: 5	16
2	Qatar	6th	10: 6	11
3	Singapore	6th	3:11	4th
4th	Palestine	6th	3:11	2

September 4, 2003
Singapore	-	Kuwait	1: 3
September 14, 2003
Kuwait	-	Qatar	2: 1
September 20, 2003
Qatar	-	Kuwait	2: 2
September 24, 2003
Palestine	-	Qatar	1: 1
September 27, 2003
Qatar	-	Palestine	2: 1
September 27, 2003
Kuwait	-	Singapore	4-0
October 5, 2003
Kuwait	-	Palestine	2: 1
October 8, 2003
Palestine	-	Kuwait	0: 4
October 19, 2003
Singapore	-	Palestine	2-0
October 22, 2003
Palestine	-	Singapore	0-0
November 19, 2003
Qatar	-	Singapore	2-0
November 29, 2003
Singapore	-	Qatar	0: 2

Group C

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Saudi Arabia	6th	31: 1	18th
2	Indonesia	6th	9:13	10
3	Yemen	6th	15:15	7th
4th	Bhutan	6th	0:26	0

October 6, 2003
Saudi Arabia	-	Yemen	7-0
October 6, 2003
Indonesia	-	Bhutan	2-0
October 8, 2003
Yemen	-	Indonesia	0: 3
October 8, 2003
Saudi Arabia	-	Bhutan	6-0
October 10, 2003
Saudi Arabia	-	Indonesia	5-0
October 10, 2003
Bhutan	-	Yemen	0: 8
October 13, 2003
Yemen	-	Saudi Arabia	1: 3
October 13, 2003
Bhutan	-	Indonesia	0: 2
October 15, 2003
Indonesia	-	Yemen	2: 2
October 15, 2003
Bhutan	-	Saudi Arabia	0: 4
October 17, 2003
Indonesia	-	Saudi Arabia	0: 6
October 17, 2003
Yemen	-	Bhutan	4-0

Group D

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Iran	6th	16: 5	15th
2	Jordan	6th	13: 6	15th
3	Lebanon	6th	2: 8	4th
4th	North Korea	6th	2:14	1

September 4, 2003
North Korea	-	Lebanon	0: 1
September 5, 2003
Iran	-	Jordan	4: 1
September 26, 2003
Jordan	-	Iran	3: 2
October 17, 2003
Jordan	-	Lebanon	1-0
October 27, 2003
North Korea	-	Iran	1: 3
November 3, 2003
Lebanon	-	North Korea	1: 1
November 12, 2003
Iran	-	North Korea	3: 0 1
November 12, 2003
Lebanon	-	Jordan	0: 2
November 18, 2003
Jordan	-	North Korea	3-0
November 19, 2003
Lebanon	-	Iran	0: 3
November 28, 2003
North Korea	-	Jordan	0: 3 2
November 28, 2003
Iran	-	Lebanon	1-0

¹ If the score was 1-0 for Iran, the game was abandoned and scored 3-0 for Iran

² The game was rated 3-0 for Jordan

Group E

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Oman	6th	26: 2	15th
2	South Korea	6th	30: 4	12
3	Vietnam	6th	8:13	9
4th	Nepal	6th	0:45	0

September 25, 2003
Nepal	-	Oman	0: 9
September 26, 2003
South Korea	-	Vietnam	5-0
September 27, 2003
Vietnam	-	Nepal	5-0
September 28, 2003
South Korea	-	Oman	1-0
September 29, 2003
Oman	-	Vietnam	6-0
September 30, 2003
South Korea	-	Nepal	16: 0
October 19, 2003
Oman	-	Nepal	6-0
October 19, 2003
Vietnam	-	South Korea	1-0
October 21, 2003
Nepal	-	Vietnam	0: 2
October 21, 2003
Oman	-	South Korea	3: 1
October 24, 2003
Nepal	-	South Korea	0: 7
October 24, 2003
Vietnam	-	Oman	0: 2

Group F.

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Iraq	6th	16: 4	13
2	Bahrain	6th	14: 9	13
3	Malaysia	6th	9:12	5
4th	Myanmar	6th	4:18	3

October 8, 2003
Bahrain	-	Iraq	1: 5
October 8, 2003
Malaysia	-	Myanmar	4-0
October 10, 2003
Myanmar	-	Bahrain	1: 3
October 10, 2003
Malaysia	-	Iraq	0-0
October 12, 2003
Iraq	-	Myanmar	3-0
October 12, 2003
Malaysia	-	Bahrain	2: 2
October 20, 2003
Iraq	-	Malaysia	5: 1
October 20, 2003
Bahrain	-	Myanmar	4-0
October 22, 2003
Myanmar	-	Iraq	1: 3
October 22, 2003
Bahrain	-	Malaysia	3: 1
October 24, 2003
Iraq	-	Bahrain	0: 1
October 24, 2003
Myanmar	-	Malaysia	2: 1

Group G

rank	country	Sp	Gates	Points
1	Turkmenistan	6th	10: 2	14th
2	UAE	6th	13: 5	13
3	Syria	6th	16:10	7th
4th	Sri Lanka	6th	1:23	0

October 15, 2003
Sri Lanka	-	Syria	0: 5
October 18, 2003
Syria	-	Sri Lanka	8-0
October 19, 2003
Turkmenistan	-	UAE	1-0
October 30, 2003
UAE	-	Turkmenistan	1: 1
November 7, 2003
Syria	-	UAE	1: 3
November 9, 2003
Turkmenistan	-	Sri Lanka	1-0
November 12, 2003
Sri Lanka	-	Turkmenistan	0: 3
November 14, 2003
UAE	-	Syria	3: 1
November 18, 2003
UAE	-	Sri Lanka	3: 1
November 22, 2003
Sri Lanka	-	UAE	0: 3
November 28, 2003
Syria	-	Turkmenistan	1: 1
December 3, 2003
Turkmenistan	-	Syria	3-0

UAE = United Arab Emirates

Qualified teams in 2004

The following 16 teams qualified for the 2004 Asian Football Championship :

 People's Republic of China ³ Japan ⁴ Uzbekistan Thailand , Kuwait Qatar Saudi Arabia Indonesia            

 Iran Jordan Oman South Korea Iraq Bahrain Turkmenistan V.AE             

³ as hosts ⁴ as defending champions