Football Asian Cup 2007 / Qualification

This article covers qualifying for the 2007 Asian Cup in Indonesia , Malaysia , Thailand and Vietnam .

mode

25 teams registered for the qualification, the 23 highest ranked teams according to the FIFA world rankings qualified directly for the main qualification. The other two teams, Bangladesh and Pakistan , first had to qualify for a place in the main qualification.

For the first time the defending champions, in this case Japan , did not qualify directly for the finals and had to take part in the qualifying matches. 16 teams (including the four hosts) took part in the final round.

Pre-qualification

The two pre-qualification games between Bangladesh and Pakistan were actually scheduled for November 2005, but were moved to December due to the earthquake in Pakistan . Bangladesh had qualified for the main qualification with a win in the second leg. However, Pakistan still took part in the main qualification because Sri Lanka withdrew its participation on January 3, 2006, allowing Pakistan to move up.

Game results

December 22, 2005, Dhaka
Bangladesh	-	Pakistan	0-0
December 26, 2005, Karachi
Pakistan	-	Bangladesh	0: 1

Main qualification

After pre-qualification and Sri Lanka's voluntary departure, the following teams took part in the main qualifying round:

Australia Bahrain Bangladesh China Hong Kong India

Iran Iraq Japan Yemen Jordan Qatar

Kuwait Lebanon * Oman Pakistan Palestine Saudi Arabia

Singapore South Korea Syria Taiwan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan

These 24 teams were drawn from six qualifying groups with four teams each. The top two in each group qualified for the finals.

The group draw took place on January 4, 2006 in Kuala Lumpur , the first group matches on February 22, 2006. The last match day was November 15, 2006.

As the Asian Football Association offered the five World Cup participants the option of playing a friendly instead of a qualifying match on March 1, the Saudi Arabia-Japan, South Korea-Iran and Australia-Lebanon games were postponed.

Due to the war in Lebanon, the Lebanese Federation announced its withdrawal from the qualifying round on August 1, 2006.

After just three days of play, Australia was the first team to qualify for the tournament on August 16, 2006. On September 6th, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar also took part in the finals. South Korea, Iran, Iraq, China and Oman also qualified for the finals on October 11th. Bahrain and Uzbekistan secured tickets for the finals on the final day of the match.

Lottery pots for the qualification

The pots were only determined based on the results of the last Asian Cup and their qualification. Australia, which only became a member of the AFC on January 1, 2006, was classified as the lowest team.

• Lottery pot 1: Japan, China, Bahrain, Iran, Jordan and Uzbekistan
• Lottery pot 2: Iraq, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar
• Lottery pot 3: United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Syria, Singapore, Lebanon and Hong Kong
• Lottery pot 4: Palestine, Pakistan, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India and Australia

groups

The placement of the teams in the qualification groups was in the following order:

1. Number of points (win: 3 points; draw: 1 point; defeat: 0 points),
2. in the event of a tie, goal difference from a direct comparison of the two teams;
3. if the goal difference is the same, the number of goals scored in direct comparison (the away goal rule does not apply here)
4. with the same number of goals, the better goal difference in all six group matches
5. Penalty shoot-out (only possible if the two teams concerned meet in the last game)
6. the lot.

Japan and Iraq were chosen because of the better direct comparison with Saudi Arabia, respectively. China group winners.

Group A

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1	Japan	6th	5	0	1	15: 02	15th
2	Saudi Arabia	6th	5	0	1	21: 04	15th
3	Yemen	6th	2	0	4th	05:13	6th
4th	India	6th	0	0	6th	02:24	0

Game results

02/22/2006	Yokohama	Japan	-	India	6: 0 (1: 0)
02/22/2006	Sanaa	Yemen	-	Saudi Arabia	0: 4 (0: 1)
03/01/2006	New Delhi	India	-	Yemen	0: 3 (0: 2)
08/16/2006	Calcutta	India	-	Saudi Arabia	0: 3 (0: 2)
08/16/2006	Niigata	Japan	-	Yemen	2: 0 (0: 0)
09/03/2006	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	-	Japan	1: 0 (0: 0)

09/06/2006	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	-	India	7: 1 (2: 1)
09/06/2006	Sanaa	Yemen	-	Japan	0: 1 (0: 0)
10/11/2006	Bangalore	India	-	Japan	0: 3 (0: 2)
10/11/2006	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	-	Yemen	5: 0 (2: 0)
11/15/2006	Sapporo	Japan	-	Saudi Arabia	3: 1 (2: 1)
11/15/2006	Sanaa	Yemen	-	India	2: 1 (0: 0)

Group B

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1	Iran	6th	4th	2	0	12: 02	14th
2	South Korea	6th	3	2	1	15: 05	11
3	Syria	6th	2	2	2	10: 06	8th
4th	Chinese Taipei	6th	0	0	6th	00:24	0

Game results

02/22/2006	Tehran	Iran	-	Chinese Taipei	4: 0 (1: 0)
02/22/2006	Aleppo	Syria	-	South Korea	1: 2 (0: 1)
03/01/2006	Taipei	Chinese Taipei	-	Syria	0: 4 (0: 1)
08/16/2006	Taipei	Chinese Taipei	-	South Korea	0: 3 (0: 1)
08/16/2006	Tehran	Iran	-	Syria	1: 1 (0: 0)
09/02/2006	Seoul	South Korea	-	Iran	1: 1 (1: 0)

09/06/2006	Damascus	Syria	-	Iran	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/06/2006	Suwon	South Korea	-	Chinese Taipei	8: 0 (4: 0)
10/11/2006	Taipei	Chinese Taipei	-	Iran	0: 2 (0: 1)
10/11/2006	Seoul	South Korea	-	Syria	1: 1 (1: 1)
11/15/2006	Tehran	Iran	-	South Korea	2: 0 (0: 0)
11/15/2006	Damascus	Syria	-	Chinese Taipei	3: 0 (0: 0)

FIFA suspended the Iranian football association IRIFF on November 22, 2006, so that the Iranians' participation in the Asian Cup was questionable. However, after FIFA partially lifted the suspension on November 28th so that the Olympic team could participate in the Asian Games, it was finally lifted on December 18, 2006.

Group C

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1	United Arab Emirates	6th	4th	1	1	11: 06	13
2	Oman	6th	4th	0	2	14: 06	12
3	Jordan	6th	3	1	2	10: 05	10
4th	Pakistan	6th	0	0	6th	04:22	0

Game results

02/22/2006	Amman	Jordan	-	Pakistan	3: 0 (3: 0)
02/22/2006	Dubai	Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Oman	1: 0 (1: 0)
03/01/2006	Wattayah	Oman	-	Jordan	3: 0 (2: 0)
03/01/2006	Karachi	Pakistan	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	1: 4 (0: 0)
08/16/2006	Islamabad	Pakistan	-	Oman	1: 4 (0: 3)
08/16/2006	Amman	Jordan	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	1: 2 (0: 0)

09/06/2006	Dubai	Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Jordan	0-0
09/06/2006	Muscat	Oman	-	Pakistan	5: 0 (3: 0)
10/11/2006	Lahore	Pakistan	-	Jordan	0: 3 (0: 2)
10/11/2006	Muscat	Oman	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	2: 1 (2: 0)
11/15/2006	Amman	Jordan	-	Oman	3: 0 (0: 0)
11/15/2006	Abu Dhabi	Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Pakistan	3: 2 (0: 1)

Group D

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1	Australia	4th	3	0	1	7: 03	9
2	Bahrain	4th	1	1	2	3: 06	4th
3	Kuwait	4th	1	1	2	3: 04	4th
4th	Lebanon	-	-	-	-	-	-

Game results

02/22/2006	Manama	Bahrain	-	Australia	1: 3 (1: 0)
03/01/2006	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Bahrain	0-0
08/16/2006	Sydney	Australia	-	Kuwait	2: 0 (0: 0)

09/06/2006	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Australia	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/11/2006	Sydney	Australia	-	Bahrain	2: 0 (2: 0)
11/15/2006	Manama	Bahrain	-	Kuwait	2: 1 (2: 0)

* Due to the Lebanon War, the Lebanese Federation announced its withdrawal from the qualifying round.

Group E

The home games of Iraq were played in the United Arab Emirates. The home games of Palestine were played in Jordan.

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1	Iraq	6th	3	2	1	12: 08	11
2	People's Republic of China	6th	3	2	1	7: 03	11
3	Singapore	5	1	1	3	4: 06	4th
4th	Palestine	5	1	1	3	3: 09	4th

Game results

02/22/2006	Guangzhou	China	-	Palestine	2: 0 (1: 0)
02/22/2006	Singapore	Singapore	-	Iraq	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/01/2006	Amman	Palestine	-	Singapore	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/01/2006	Al-Ain	Iraq	-	China	2: 1 (1: 0)
08/16/2006	Tianjin	China	-	Singapore	1: 0 (0: 0)
08/17/2006	Amman	Palestine	-	Iraq	0: 3 (0: 0)

09/06/2006	Singapore	Singapore	-	China	0-0
09/06/2006	Al-Ain	Iraq	-	Palestine	2: 2 (0: 1)
10/11/2006	Al-Ain	Iraq	-	Singapore	4: 2 (1: 1)
10/11/2006	Amman	Palestine	-	China	0: 2 (0: 1)
11/15/2006	Changsha	China	-	Iraq	1: 1 (1: 0)
11/15/2006	Singapore	Singapore	-	Palestine	-

Group F.

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1	Qatar	6th	5	0	1	14: 04	15th
2	Uzbekistan	6th	3	2	1	14: 04	11
3	Hong Kong	6th	2	2	2	05: 7	8th
4th	Bangladesh	6th	0	0	6th	01:19	0

Game results

02/22/2006	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Bangladesh	5: 0 (3: 0)
02/22/2006	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Qatar	0: 3 (0: 2)
03/01/2006	Dhaka	Bangladesh	-	Hong Kong	0: 1 (0: 0)
03/01/2006	Doha	Qatar	-	Uzbekistan	2: 1 (1: 1)
08/16/2006	Chittagong	Bangladesh	-	Qatar	1: 4 (1: 3)
08/16/2006	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Hong Kong	2: 2 (2: 0)

09/06/2006	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Uzbekistan	0-0
09/06/2006	Doha	Qatar	-	Bangladesh	3: 0 (2: 0)
10/11/2006	Chittagong	Bangladesh	-	Uzbekistan	0: 4 (0: 4)
10/11/2006	Doha	Qatar	-	Hong Kong	2: 0 (1: 0)
11/15/2006	Kowloon	Hong Kong	-	Bangladesh	2: 0 (1: 0)
11/15/2006	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Qatar	2: 0 (1: 0)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pakistan get reprieve as Sri Lanka withdraw footballdynamicsasia.blogspot.de, January 4, 2006
2. ↑ Lebanon pull out from qualifiers for the Asian Cup http://gulfnews.com/ , July 31, 2006
3. ↑ FIFA suspends the Iranian Football Association ( Memento of May 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) fifa.com, November 23, 2006
4. ↑ Iran is allowed to take part in the Asian Games fifa.com, November 28, 2006
5. ↑ Ban against Iran lifted FOCUS online, December 18, 2006
6. ↑ Singapore clash with Palestine called off