Football World Cup 2014 / Qualification (AFC)

The Continental Federation AFC

The associations of the Asian Football Confederation ( AFC ) had four permanent places for the 2014 World Cup , which Iran , South Korea , Japan and Australia were able to secure. For a possible fifth place in the final round, Jordan played in an intercontinental decision-making match against the South American representative ( Uruguay ), but could not qualify.

On the qualification took 43 of the 46 associations of the AFC, which is also a member of the World Federation FIFA are, in part. Bhutan and Guam did not participate, Brunei was suspended by FIFA from 2009 to May 30, 2011.

The Asian association drew the first two qualifying rounds on March 30, 2011. The draw for the third round took place on July 30, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro .

FIFA regulations

According to FIFA regulations, the preliminary round matches in the form of group and cup matches could be played in home and return matches or, in exceptional cases, in tournament form in one of the participating countries. In the group matches, three points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. The following criteria were decisive:

1. higher number of points
2. better goal difference
3. higher number of goals scored
4. higher number of points from the direct encounters between teams with the same points and goals
5. better goal difference from the direct encounters between the teams with the same points and goals
6. higher number of goals from direct encounters between teams with equal points and goals
7. higher number of away goals from direct encounters between teams with the same points and goals if only two teams are affected.

If two teams had done the same according to these criteria, a playoff could have been scheduled. This case did not occur.

In the cup games, the higher number of away goals scored after the two games were tied. If the number of away goals was the same, extra time was played. If no goal was scored in extra time, the match was decided on penalties. This only happened in the final round playoffs. If the same number of goals were scored in extra time, the away team qualified because more away goals were scored.

mode

The first two rounds of the Asian qualification took place in the knockout system . In the third round, the top two of the five groups of four qualified for the fourth round, which was played in two groups of five. Their winners and runners-up qualified directly for the World Cup, while the third-placed winners in two playoffs determined the participant for the intercontinental playoffs.

First round

In the first round, the 16 lowest-seeded teams in the knockout system met because of their performance in the 2010 World Cup qualification. After the draw on March 30, 2011 in Kuala Lumpur ( Malaysia ), the following games took place:

	total		First leg	Return leg
Malaysia	( a ) 4: 4	Chinese Taipei	2: 1 (1: 0)	2: 3 (2: 2)
Bangladesh	3-0	Pakistan	3: 0 (2: 0)	0-0
Cambodia	6: 8	Laos	4: 2 (0: 1)	2: 6 n.V. (2: 4, 1: 2)
Sri Lanka	1: 5	Philippines	1: 1 (1: 0)	0: 4 (0: 2)
Palestinian Territories	3: 1	Afghanistan	2: 0 (1: 0)	11: 1 (1: 0) 1
Vietnam	13: 10	Macau	6: 0 (3: 0)	7: 1 (4: 0)
Nepal	7: 1	East Timor	2: 1 (1: 0)	25: 0 (1: 0) 2
Mongolia	1: 2	Myanmar	1: 0 (0: 0)	0: 2 (0: 0)

¹ Because of the uncertain situation in Afghanistan, the home game of Afghanistan was played in Tajikistan.

² Due to the lack of technical infrastructure in East Timor, the home game of East Timor was played in Nepal.

Second round

In the second round, the eight winners from the first round and the associations placed 6 to 27 played in the knockout system by 15 places in the 3rd round.

	total		First leg	Return leg
Thailand	3: 2	Palestinian Territories	1: 0 (1: 0)	2: 2 (1: 1)
Lebanon	4: 2	Bangladesh	4: 0 (2: 0)	0: 2 (0: 0)
China	13: 30	Laos	7: 2 (1: 2)	6: 1 (2: 0)
Turkmenistan	4: 5	Indonesia	1: 1 (1: 1)	3: 4 (0: 3)
Kuwait	5: 1	Philippines	3: 0 (1: 0)	2: 1 (1: 0)
Oman	4-0	Myanmar	2: 0 (1: 0)	2: 0 1
Saudi Arabia	8-0	Hong Kong	3: 0 (2: 0)	5: 0 (1: 0)
Iran	5-0	Maldives	4: 0 (1: 0)	1: 0 (1: 0)
Syria	0: 6	Tajikistan	1/20: 3 2 / 3	0: 3
Qatar	4: 2	Vietnam	3: 0 (1: 0)	1: 2 (1: 0)
Iraq	2-0	Yemen	2: 0 (0: 0)	4th0-0 4
Singapore	6: 4	Malaysia	5: 3 (4: 1)	1: 1 (0: 0)
Uzbekistan	7-0	Kyrgyzstan	4: 0 (1: 0)	3: 0 (0: 0)
United Arab Emirates	5: 2	India	3: 0 (2: 0)	2: 2 (1: 0)
Jordan	10: 10	Nepal	9: 0 (4: 0)	1: 1 (0: 0)

¹The match was abandoned in the 47th (45th + 2 ') minute by the referee when the score was 2-0 for Oman and FIFA then rated it with this result. Myanmar was excluded from the preliminary round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. However, the exclusion was later lifted.

²Because of the uncertain situation in Syria, the home game of Syria was played in Jordan.

³ Syria disqualified from the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In: fifa.com. FIFA, August 19, 2011, accessed on October 16, 2013 (Syria used George Mourad, a player who was not eligible to play, so FIFA scored both games 0: 3 (originally 2: 1 (1: 0) and 4: 0 ( 2: 0) for Syria)). 

^4thBecause of the uncertain situation in Yemen, the home game of Yemen was played in the United Arab Emirates.

Third round

The AFC members who took part in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa (Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea) as well as play-off participants Bahrain only entered in this round and met the 15 winners of the 2nd play-off round . The 20 teams were divided into five groups of four teams each, from which the two best in the group qualified for the 4th round.

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E
People's Republic of China	South Korea	North Korea	Australia	Bahrain
Jordan	Kuwait	Uzbekistan	Saudi Arabia	Qatar
Iraq	UAE	Tajikistan	Oman	Iran
Singapore	Lebanon	Japan	Thailand	Indonesia

Group A

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Iraq	6th	5	0	1	014: 400	+10	15th
2.	Jordan	6th	4th	0	2	011: 700	+4	12
3.	People's Republic of China	6th	3	0	3	010: 600	+4	09
4th	Singapore	6th	0	0	6th	002:200	−18	00

Game results

02.09.2011	Kunming	China	-	Singapore	2: 1 (0: 1)
02.09.2011	Arbil	Iraq	-	Jordan	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Jalan Besar	Singapore	-	Iraq	0: 2 (0: 0)
09/06/2011	Amman	Jordan	-	China	2: 1 (0: 0)
10/11/2011	Shenzhen	China	-	Iraq	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/11/2011	Singapore	Singapore	-	Jordan	0: 3 (0: 1)

11/11/2011	Doha ( Qatar )	Iraq	-	China	1: 0 (0: 0)
11/11/2011	Amman	Jordan	-	Singapore	2: 0 (1: 0)
11/15/2011	Jalan Besar	Singapore	-	China	0: 4 (0: 1)
11/15/2011	Amman	Jordan	-	Iraq	1: 3 (1: 0)
02/29/2012	Guangzhou	China	-	Jordan	3: 1 (1: 0)
02/29/2012	Doha ( Qatar )	Iraq	-	Singapore	7: 1 (4: 1)

Note: On September 23, 2011, FIFA announced that Iraq would have to play its home games in a neutral location in Asia.

Group B

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	South Korea	6th	4th	1	1	014: 400	+10	13
2.	Lebanon	6th	3	1	2	010:140	−4	10
3.	Kuwait	6th	2	2	2	008: 900	−1	08th
4th	United Arab Emirates	6th	1	0	5	009:140	−5	03

Game results

02.09.2011	Goyang	South Korea	-	Lebanon	6: 0 (2: 0)
02.09.2011	Al-Ain	UAE	-	Kuwait	2: 3 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Beirut	Lebanon	-	UAE	3: 1 (1: 1)
09/06/2011	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	South Korea	1: 1 (0: 1)
10/11/2011	Suwon	South Korea	-	UAE	2: 1 (0: 0)
10/11/2011	Beirut	Lebanon	-	Kuwait	2: 2 (1: 0)

11/11/2011	Dubai	UAE	-	South Korea	0: 2 (0: 0)
11/11/2011	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Lebanon	0: 1 (0: 0)
11/15/2011	Beirut	Lebanon	-	South Korea	2: 1 (2: 1)
11/15/2011	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	UAE	2: 1 (0: 1)
02/29/2012	Seoul	South Korea	-	Kuwait	2: 0 (0: 0)
02/29/2012	Abu Dhabi	UAE	-	Lebanon	4: 2 (2: 2)

Group C

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Uzbekistan	6th	5	1	0	008: 100	+7	16
2.	Japan	6th	3	1	2	014: 300	+11	10
3.	North Korea	6th	2	1	3	003: 400	−1	07th
4th	Tajikistan	6th	0	1	5	001:180	−17	01

Game results

02.09.2011	Saitama	Japan	-	North Korea	1: 0 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Tursunsoda	Tajikistan	-	Uzbekistan	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/06/2011	Pyongyang	North Korea	-	Tajikistan	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/06/2011	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Japan	1: 1 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Osaka	Japan	-	Tajikistan	8: 0 (4: 0)
10/11/2011	Pyongyang	North Korea	-	Uzbekistan	0: 1 (0: 1)

11/11/2011	Dushanbe	Tajikistan	-	Japan	0: 4 (0: 1)
11/11/2011	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	North Korea	1: 0 (0: 0)
11/15/2011	Pyongyang	North Korea	-	Japan	1: 0 (0: 0)
11/15/2011	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Tajikistan	3: 0 (1: 0)
02/29/2012	Toyota	Japan	-	Uzbekistan	0: 1 (0: 0)
02/29/2012	Khujand	Tajikistan	-	North Korea	1: 1 (0: 0)

Group D

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Australia	6th	5	0	1	013: 500	+8	15th
2.	Oman	6th	2	2	2	003: 600	−3	08th
3.	Saudi Arabia	6th	1	3	2	006: 700	−1	06th
4th	Thailand	6th	1	1	4th	004: 800	−4	04th

Game results

02.09.2011	Brisbane	Australia	-	Thailand	2: 1 (0: 1)
02.09.2011	Muscat	Oman	-	Saudi Arabia	0-0
09/06/2011	Bangkok	Thailand	-	Oman	3: 0 (2: 0)
09/06/2011	Damam	Saudi Arabia	-	Australia	1: 3 (0: 1)
10/11/2011	Sydney	Australia	-	Oman	3: 0 (1: 0)
10/11/2011	Bangkok	Thailand	-	Saudi Arabia	0-0

11/11/2011	Muscat	Oman	-	Australia	1: 0 (1: 0)
11/11/2011	Riad	Saudi Arabia	-	Thailand	3: 0 (0: 0)
11/15/2011	Bangkok	Thailand	-	Australia	0: 1 (0: 0)
11/15/2011	Riad	Saudi Arabia	-	Oman	0-0
02/29/2012	Melbourne	Australia	-	Saudi Arabia	4: 2 (1: 2)
02/29/2012	Muscat	Oman	-	Thailand	2: 0 (1: 0)

Group E

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Iran	6th	3	3	0	017: 500	+12	12
2.	Qatar	6th	2	4th	0	010: 500	+5	10
3.	Bahrain	6th	2	3	1	013: 700	+6	09
4th	Indonesia	6th	0	0	6th	003:260	−23	00

Game results

02.09.2011	Tehran	Iran	-	Indonesia	3: 0 (0: 0)
02.09.2011	Riffa	Bahrain	-	Qatar	0-0
09/06/2011	Jakarta	Indonesia	-	Bahrain	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/06/2011	Doha	Qatar	-	Iran	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/11/2011	Tehran	Iran	-	Bahrain	6: 0 (3: 0)
10/11/2011	Jakarta	Indonesia	-	Qatar	2: 3 (2: 2)

11/11/2011	Riffa	Bahrain	-	Iran	01: 1 (1: 0)
11/11/2011	Doha	Qatar	-	Indonesia	04: 0 (2: 0)
11/15/2011	Jakarta	Indonesia	-	Iran	01: 4 (1: 3)
11/15/2011	Doha	Qatar	-	Bahrain	00-0
02/29/2012	Tehran	Iran	-	Qatar	02: 2 (1: 1)
02/29/2012	Manama	Bahrain	-	Indonesia	10: 0 (4: 0)

Fourth round

The five group winners and runners-up in the third round were divided into two groups of five. The game was played in the championship system with back and forth legs. The two group winners and the two runners-up in the fourth round were able to qualify for the final round. The two thirds in the group played two playoffs against each other (return leg). The winner qualified for the intercontinental playoffs. The draw took place on March 9, 2012 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur .

Group A	Group B
South Korea	Australia
Iran	Iraq
Uzbekistan	Jordan
Qatar	Oman
Lebanon	Japan

Group A

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Iran	8th	5	1	2	008: 200	+6	16
2.	South Korea	8th	4th	2	2	013: 700	+6	14th
3.	Uzbekistan	8th	4th	2	2	011: 600	+5	14th
4th	Qatar	8th	2	1	5	005:130	−8	07th
5.	Lebanon	8th	1	2	5	003:120	−9	05

Game results

06/03/2012	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Iran	0: 1 (0: 0)
	Beirut	Lebanon	-	Qatar	0: 1 (0: 0)
06/08/2012	Doha	Qatar	-	South Korea	1: 4 (1: 1)
	Beirut	Lebanon	-	Uzbekistan	1: 1 (1: 1)
06/12/2012	Tehran	Iran	-	Qatar	0-0
	Goyang	South Korea	-	Lebanon	3: 0 (1: 0)
09/11/2012	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	South Korea	2: 2 (1: 1)
	Beirut	Lebanon	-	Iran	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/16/2012	Tehran	Iran	-	South Korea	1: 0 (1: 0)
	Doha	Qatar	-	Uzbekistan	0: 1 (0: 1)

11/14/2012	Tehran	Iran	-	Uzbekistan	0: 1 (0: 0)
	Doha	Qatar	-	Lebanon	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/26/2013	Seoul	South Korea	-	Qatar	2: 1 (0: 0)
	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Lebanon	1: 0 (0: 0)
06/04/2013	Doha	Qatar	-	Iran	0: 1 (0: 0)
	Beirut	Lebanon	-	South Korea	1: 1 (1: 0)
06/11/2013	Seoul	South Korea	-	Uzbekistan	1: 0 (1: 0)
	Tehran	Iran	-	Lebanon	4: 0 (2: 0)
06/18/2013	Ulsan	South Korea	-	Iran	0: 1 (0: 0)
	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Qatar	5: 1 (0: 1)

Group B

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Japan	8th	5	2	1	016: 500	+11	17th
2.	Australia	8th	3	4th	1	012: 700	+5	13
3.	Jordan	8th	3	1	4th	007:160	−9	10
4th	Oman	8th	2	3	3	007:100	−3	09
5.	Iraq	8th	1	2	5	004: 800	−4	05

Game results

06/03/2012	Amman	Jordan	-	Iraq	1: 1 (1: 1)
	Saitama	Japan	-	Oman	3: 0 (1: 0)
06/08/2012	Muscat	Oman	-	Australia	0-0
	Saitama	Japan	-	Jordan	6: 0 (4: 0)
06/12/2012	Doha	Iraq	-	Oman	1: 1 (1: 1)
	Brisbane	Australia	-	Japan	1: 1 (0: 0)
09/11/2012	Amman	Jordan	-	Australia	2: 1 (0: 0)
	Saitama	Japan	-	Iraq	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/16/2012	Doha	Iraq	-	Australia	1: 2 (0: 0)
	Muscat	Oman	-	Jordan	2: 1 (0: 0)

11/14/2012	Doha	Iraq	-	Jordan	1: 0 (0: 0)
	Muscat	Oman	-	Japan	1: 2 (0: 1)
03/26/2013	Sydney	Australia	-	Oman	2: 2 (0: 1)
	Amman	Jordan	-	Japan	2: 1 (1: 0)
06/04/2013	Muscat	Oman	-	Iraq	1: 0 (1: 0)
	Saitama	Japan	-	Australia	1: 1 (0: 0)
06/11/2013	Melbourne	Australia	-	Jordan	4: 0 (1: 0)
	Doha	Iraq	-	Japan	0: 1 (0: 0)
06/18/2013	Sydney	Australia	-	Iraq	1: 0 (0: 0)
	Amman	Jordan	-	Oman	1: 0 (0: 0)

Note: On September 23, 2011, FIFA announced that Iraq would have to play its home games in a neutral location in Asia.

Fifth round

The two third-placed finishers in the fourth round competed against each other in the home and away leg. The games took place on September 6th and 10th, 2013. The winner played in the intercontinental play-off against the fifth of the South American qualifiers (CONMEBOL).

Playoff games to determine fifth in AFC qualification

06.09.2013	Amman	Jordan	-	Uzbekistan	1: 1 (1: 1)
09/10/2013	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Jordan	1: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 1), 8: 9 i. E.

Best goal scorers

Players in bold are qualified for the World Cup with their teams.

rank	Surname	Gates	Games
1	Shinji Okazaki	8th	14th
2	Lê Công Vinh	7th	4th
	Hassan Mahmud	7th	10
	Yunis Mahmud	7th	14th
	Ahmad Hayel	7th	18th
6th	Park Chu-young	6th	7th
	Javad Nekounam	6th	7th
8th	Hao Junmin	5	6th
	Joshua Kennedy	5	6th
	Keisuke Honda	5	6th
	Nasser Al-Shamrani	5	8th
	Lee Keun-ho	5	12
	Hassan Maatouk	5	15th
	Khalfan Ibrahim	5	15th
	Amer Khalil Deeb	5	17th
Source: fifa.com

Web links

• Official FIFA website for qualifying for the 2014 World Cup

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Regulations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. (PDF; 431 kB) (No longer available online.) In: fifa.com. FIFA , archived from the original on June 29, 2014 ; Retrieved July 15, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ The battle for Brazil berth begins. In: the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation , March 30, 2011, accessed September 19, 2013 . 
3. ↑ Preliminary round format and draw procedure: Asia zone. (PDF; 112 kB) 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil ™. In: fifa.com. FIFA, May 20, 2011, accessed April 5, 2013 . 
4. ↑ FootballAfghanistan.blogspot.com: Afghanistan and Palestine Play in Metallurge Stadium ( Memento from August 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Goal Nepal: Nepal Vs Timor Leste Home & Away Matches In Kathmandu
6. ↑ [1]
7. ↑ [2]
8. ↑ [3]
9. ↑ ^{a b} Iraq must find a neutral venue. In: fifa.com. FIFA, September 23, 2011, accessed October 16, 2013 . 
10. ↑ Saudi Arabia and Bahrain failed. In: fifa.com. FIFA, February 29, 2012, accessed on October 16, 2013 ("Due to the extraordinarily high result in relation to the expected outcome and the balance sheet between the two countries, as well as in the interests of maintaining the unmistakable trust in our game, FIFA security will be a carry out a routine examination of the match between Bahrain and Indonesia. "). 
11. ↑ The last round is taking shape. In: fifa.com. FIFA, March 9, 2012, accessed October 16, 2013 . 
12. ↑ 2014 FIFA World Cup: Qualification - ASIA - Fifth Round - "CONTINENTAL PLAYOFF". In: fifa.com. FIFA, accessed October 19, 2012 . 
13. ↑ 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Preliminaries: Asia: Scorers. In: fifa.com. FIFA, accessed October 21, 2013 .