Football World Cup 2022 / Qualification (AFC)

The Continental Federation AFC

The associations of the Asian Football Confederation ( AFC ) are entitled to four permanent places for the 2022 World Cup . A team can secure a possible fifth place in the final round in intercontinental decision-making encounters. All 46 associations of the AFC, which are also members of the world association FIFA , take part in the qualification .

The Asian association drew the first qualifying round on April 17, 2019, in which the twelve lowest-ranked teams in the FIFA world rankings of April 4, 2019 took part.

FIFA regulations

According to FIFA regulations, the preliminary round matches in the form of group matches and cup matches can be played in home and return matches or, in exceptional cases, in tournament form in one of the participating countries. In the group games, three points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. The following criteria are 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 are equal according to these criteria, a play-off can be scheduled.

In the cup games, if there is a tie after the two games, the higher number of away goals scored counts . If the number of away goals is the same, extra time is played. If no goal is scored in extra time, the match will be decided on penalties . If the same number of goals are scored in extra time, the away team qualifies due to more away goals scored.

mode

The qualification will take place in four rounds, of which the first two also represent the first two rounds of the qualification for the 2023 Asian Cup . Due to this merger, Qatar will also take part in the qualification as the host of the 2022 World Cup.

The first round of the Asian qualification took place in June 2019 in the knockout system . In the second round, the six winners and the 34 higher ranked teams play against each other in eight groups of five in a double round robin format . The second round games should be played from September 2019 to June 2020. At the beginning of March 2020, however, the four remaining game days were postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and initially scheduled for October and November 2020 in June 2020. On August 12, 2020, the games were postponed to an unspecified date in 2021 due to the persistence of the pandemic. The eight group winners and the four best runners-up reach the third round. If Qatar is one of them, the number of runners-up in the group increases by one place.

The third round, which is played in two groups of six, was originally supposed to take place from September 2020 to October 2021. Due to the interruption in the second round, the start of the third round is now planned for March 2021. The last games of the third round are to be played in November 2021. The two best teams in each group will qualify directly for the World Cup finals, while the third two will play in the fourth round in March 2022 with a return leg for participation in the intercontinental play-offs.

First round

The draw took place on April 17, 2019 in Kuala Lumpur ( Malaysia ). The first legs were played on June 6 and 7, the second legs on June 11, 2019.

	total		First leg	Return leg
Mongolia	3: 2	Brunei	2: 0 (1: 0)	1: 2 (0: 2)
Macau	1: 3	Sri Lanka	1: 0 (0: 0) 1	0: 3 2
Laos	0: 1	Bangladesh	0: 1 (0: 0)	0-0
Malaysia	12: 20	East Timor	7: 1 (4: 0)	5: 1 (3: 0) 3
Cambodia	4: 1	Pakistan	2: 0 (0: 0)	2: 1 (0: 1) 4
Bhutan	1: 5	Guam	1: 0 (1: 0)	0: 5 (0: 2)

Remarks

¹The game took place in Zhuhai ( China ).

²Macau did not play the second leg due to security concerns as a result of the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019 . FIFA then rated the game as a 3-0 win for Sri Lanka.

³The game took place in Kuala Lumpur ( Malaysia ).

^4thThe game took place in Doha ( Qatar ).

Second round

The group draw took place on July 17, 2019 in Kuala Lumpur ( Malaysia ).

Grouping

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
China	Australia	Iran	Saudi Arabia
Syria	Jordan	Iraq	Uzbekistan
Philippines	Chinese Taipei	Bahrain	Palestine
Maldives	Kuwait	Hong Kong	Yemen
Guam	Nepal	Cambodia	Singapore
Group E	Group F.	Group G	Group H.
Bangladesh 1	Japan	Ver. Arab. Emirates	South Korea
Oman	Kyrgyzstan	Vietnam	Lebanon
India	Tajikistan	Thailand	North Korea
Afghanistan	Myanmar	Malaysia	Turkmenistan
Qatar 1	Mongolia	Indonesia	Sri Lanka

annotation

¹Since Qatar wanted to take part in the Copa America , which was originally planned for 2020 , his group seat was swapped from E1 to E5.

Group A

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Syria	5	5	0	0	014: 400	+10	15th
2.	China	4th	2	1	1	013: 200	+11	07th
3.	Philippines	5	2	1	2	008: 800	± 0	07th
4th	Maldives	5	2	0	3	006:100	−4	06th
5.	Guam	5	0	0	5	002:190	−17	00
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Dededo	Guam	-	Maldives	0: 1 (0: 1)
05.09.2019	Bacolod City	Philippines	-	Syria	2: 5 (1: 2)
09/10/2019	Dededo	Guam	-	Philippines	1: 4 (0: 2)
09/10/2019	Times	Maldives	-	China	0: 5 (0: 2)
10/10/2019	Guangzhou	China	-	Guam	7: 0 (6: 0)
10/10/2019	Dubai (1, ARE ) 1	Syria	-	Maldives	2: 1 (1: 0)
October 15, 2019	Bacolod City	Philippines	-	China	0-0
October 15, 2019	Dubai (2, ARE) 1	Syria	-	Guam	4: 0 (2: 0)
11/14/2019	Times	Maldives	-	Philippines	1: 2 (0: 0)
11/14/2019	Dubai (2, ARE) 1	Syria	-	China	2: 1 (1: 1)

November 19, 2019	Times	Maldives	-	Guam	3: 1 (2: 0)
November 19, 2019	Dubai (2, ARE) 1	Syria	-	Philippines	1: 0 (1: 0)
08/10/2020		China	-	Maldives	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		Philippines	-	Guam	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Maldives	-	Syria	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Guam	-	China	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		China	-	Philippines	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Guam	-	Syria	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		China	-	Syria	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Philippines	-	Maldives	-: - (- :–)

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¹Due to the tense security situation in Syria , the game will be played on neutral ground.

Group B

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Australia	4th	4th	0	0	016: 100	+15	12
2.	Kuwait	5	3	1	1	017: 300	+14	10
3.	Jordan	5	3	1	1	010: 200	+8	10
4th	Nepal	5	1	0	4th	002:160	−14	03
5.	Chinese Taipei	5	0	0	5	002:250	−23	00
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Taipei	Chinese Taipei	-	Jordan	1: 2 (0: 2)
05.09.2019	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Nepal	7: 0 (2: 0)
09/10/2019	Taipei	Chinese Taipei	-	Nepal	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/10/2019	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Australia	0: 3 (0: 3)
10/10/2019	Canberra	Australia	-	Nepal	5: 0 (3: 0)
10/10/2019	Amman (1)	Jordan	-	Kuwait	0-0
October 15, 2019	Kaohsiung	Chinese Taipei	-	Australia	1: 7 (1: 4)
October 15, 2019	Amman (1)	Jordan	-	Nepal	3: 0 (0: 0)
11/14/2019	Amman (2)	Jordan	-	Australia	0: 1 (0: 1)
11/14/2019	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Chinese Taipei	9: 0 (2: 0)

November 19, 2019	Thimphu ( BTN )	Nepal	-	Kuwait	0: 1 (0: 1)
November 19, 2019	Amman (2)	Jordan	-	Chinese Taipei	5: 0 (3: 0)
08/10/2020		Australia	-	Kuwait	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		Nepal	-	Chinese Taipei	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Kuwait	-	Jordan	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Nepal	-	Australia	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Australia	-	Chinese Taipei	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Nepal	-	Jordan	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Australia	-	Jordan	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Chinese Taipei	-	Kuwait	-: - (- :–)

Group C

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Iraq	5	3	2	0	009: 200	+7	11
2.	Bahrain	5	2	3	0	003: 100	+2	09
3.	Iran	4th	2	0	2	017: 300	+14	06th
4th	Hong Kong	5	1	2	2	003: 500	−2	05
5.	Cambodia	5	0	1	4th	001:220	−21	01
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Phnom Penh	Cambodia	-	Hong Kong	01: 1 (1: 1)
05.09.2019	Riffa	Bahrain	-	Iraq	01: 1 (1: 0)
09/10/2019	Phnom Penh	Cambodia	-	Bahrain	00: 1 (0: 0)
09/10/2019	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Iran	00: 2 (0: 1)
10/10/2019	Tehran	Iran	-	Cambodia	14: 0 (7: 0)
10/10/2019	Basra	Iraq	-	Hong Kong	02: 0 (1: 0)
October 15, 2019	Phnom Penh	Cambodia	-	Iraq	00: 4 (0: 2)
October 15, 2019	Riffa	Bahrain	-	Iran	01: 0 (0: 0)
11/14/2019	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Bahrain	00-0
11/14/2019	Amman ( JOR ) 1	Iraq	-	Iran	02: 1 (1: 1)

November 19, 2019	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Cambodia	2: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 2019	Amman (JOR) 1	Iraq	-	Bahrain	0-0
08/10/2020		Iran	-	Hong Kong	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		Bahrain	-	Cambodia	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Hong Kong	-	Iraq	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Cambodia	-	Iran	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Iran	-	Bahrain	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Iraq	-	Cambodia	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Iran	-	Iraq	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Bahrain	-	Hong Kong	-: - (- :–)

annotation

¹Due to the tense security situation in Iraq , the game will be played on neutral ground.

Group D

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Uzbekistan	5	3	0	2	012: 600	+6	09
2.	Saudi Arabia	4th	2	2	0	008: 400	+4	08th
3.	Singapore	5	2	1	2	007:100	−3	07th
4th	Yemen	5	1	2	2	006:110	−5	05
5.	Palestine	5	1	1	3	003: 500	−2	04th
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Singapore (1)	Singapore	-	Yemen	2: 2 (1: 2)
05.09.2019	al-Ram	Palestine	-	Uzbekistan	2: 0 (0: 0)
09/10/2019	Singapore (2)	Singapore	-	Palestine	2: 1 (2: 1)
09/10/2019	Riffa ( BHR ) 1	Yemen	-	Saudi Arabia	2: 2 (2: 1)
10/10/2019	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Yemen	5: 0 (2: 0)
10/10/2019	Buraida	Saudi Arabia	-	Singapore	3: 0 (1: 0)
October 15, 2019	Singapore (1)	Singapore	-	Uzbekistan	1: 3 (1: 1)
October 15, 2019	al-Ram	Palestine	-	Saudi Arabia	0-0
11/14/2019	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Saudi Arabia	2: 3 (1: 1)
11/14/2019	al-Muharraq (BHR) 1	Yemen	-	Palestine	1: 0 (0: 0)

November 19, 2019	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	-	Palestine	2: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 2019	al-Muharraq (BHR) 1	Yemen	-	Singapore	1: 2 (0: 1)
08/10/2020		Saudi Arabia	-	Yemen	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		Palestine	-	Singapore	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020	1	Yemen	-	Uzbekistan	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Singapore	-	Saudi Arabia	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Saudi Arabia	-	Palestine	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Uzbekistan	-	Singapore	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Saudi Arabia	-	Uzbekistan	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Palestine	-	Yemen	-: - (- :–)

annotation

¹Due to the tense security situation in Yemen , the game will be played on neutral ground.

Group E

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Qatar	5	4th	1	0	011: 100	+10	13
2.	Oman	5	4th	0	1	011: 400	+7	12
3.	Afghanistan	5	1	1	3	002:110	−9	04th
4th	India	5	0	3	2	003: 500	−2	03
5.	Bangladesh	4th	0	1	3	002: 800	−6	01
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Guwahati	India	-	Oman	1: 2 (1: 0)
05.09.2019	Doha	Qatar	-	Afghanistan	6: 0 (4: 0)
09/10/2019	Dushanbe ( TJK ) 1	Afghanistan	-	Bangladesh	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/10/2019	Doha	Qatar	-	India	0-0
10/10/2019	Dhaka	Bangladesh	-	Qatar	0: 2 (0: 1)
10/10/2019	Sib	Oman	-	Afghanistan	3: 0 (2: 0)
October 15, 2019	Calcutta	India	-	Bangladesh	1: 1 (0: 1)
October 15, 2019	al-Wakra	Qatar	-	Oman	2: 1 (1: 0)
11/14/2019	Dushanbe (TJK) 1	Afghanistan	-	India	1: 1 (1: 0)
11/14/2019	Muscat	Oman	-	Bangladesh	4: 1 (0: 0)

November 19, 2019	Dushanbe (TJK) 1	Afghanistan	-	Qatar	0: 1 (0: 0)
November 19, 2019	Muscat	Oman	-	India	1: 0 (1: 0)
08/10/2020		Bangladesh	-	Afghanistan	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		India	-	Qatar	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020	1	Afghanistan	-	Oman	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Qatar	-	Bangladesh	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Bangladesh	-	India	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Oman	-	Qatar	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Bangladesh	-	Oman	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		India	-	Afghanistan	-: - (- :–)

annotation

¹Due to the tense security situation in Afghanistan , the game will be played on neutral ground.

Group F.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Japan	4th	4th	0	0	013: 000	+13	12
2.	Kyrgyzstan	5	2	1	2	010: 500	+5	07th
3.	Tajikistan	5	2	1	2	006: 800	−2	07th
4th	Myanmar	5	2	0	3	005:130	−8	06th
5.	Mongolia	5	1	0	4th	002:100	−8	03
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Ulaanbaatar	Mongolia	-	Myanmar	1: 0 (1: 0)
05.09.2019	Dushanbe	Tajikistan	-	Kyrgyzstan	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/10/2019	Ulaanbaatar	Mongolia	-	Tajikistan	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/10/2019	Rangoon	Myanmar	-	Japan	0: 2 (0: 2)
10/10/2019	Saitama	Japan	-	Mongolia	6: 0 (4: 0)
10/10/2019	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	-	Myanmar	7: 0 (5: 0)
October 15, 2019	Ulaanbaatar	Mongolia	-	Kyrgyzstan	1: 2 (0: 2)
October 15, 2019	Dushanbe	Tajikistan	-	Japan	0: 3 (0: 0)
11/14/2019	Mandalay	Myanmar	-	Tajikistan	4: 3 (2: 1)
11/14/2019	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	-	Japan	0: 2 (0: 1)

November 19, 2019	Mandalay	Myanmar	-	Mongolia	1: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 2019	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	-	Tajikistan	1: 1 (0: 1)
08/10/2020		Japan	-	Myanmar	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		Tajikistan	-	Mongolia	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Myanmar	-	Kyrgyzstan	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Mongolia	-	Japan	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Japan	-	Tajikistan	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Kyrgyzstan	-	Mongolia	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Japan	-	Kyrgyzstan	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Tajikistan	-	Myanmar	-: - (- :–)

Group G

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Vietnam	5	3	2	0	005: 100	+4	11
2.	Malaysia	5	3	0	2	008: 600	+2	09
3.	Thailand	5	2	2	1	006: 300	+3	08th
4th	Ver. Arab. Emirates	4th	2	0	2	008: 400	+4	06th
5.	Indonesia	5	0	0	5	003:160	−13	00
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Pathum Thani	Thailand	-	Vietnam	0-0
05.09.2019	Jakarta	Indonesia	-	Malaysia	2: 3 (2: 1)
09/10/2019	Jakarta	Indonesia	-	Thailand	0: 3 (0: 0)
09/10/2019	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	1: 2 (1: 1)
10/10/2019	Hanoi	Vietnam	-	Malaysia	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/10/2019	Dubai	Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Indonesia	5: 0 (1: 0)
October 15, 2019	Gianyar	Indonesia	-	Vietnam	1: 3 (0: 1)
October 15, 2019	Pathum Thani	Thailand	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	2: 1 (1: 1)
11/14/2019	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	-	Thailand	2: 1 (1: 1)
11/14/2019	Hanoi	Vietnam	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	1: 0 (1: 0)

November 19, 2019	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	-	Indonesia	2: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 2019	Hanoi	Vietnam	-	Thailand	0-0
08/10/2020		Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Malaysia	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		Thailand	-	Indonesia	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Malaysia	-	Vietnam	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Indonesia	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Thailand	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Vietnam	-	Indonesia	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Vietnam	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		Thailand	-	Malaysia	-: - (- :–)

Group H.

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Turkmenistan	5	3	0	2	008: 500	+3	09
2.	South Korea	4th	2	2	0	010-000	+10	08th
3.	Lebanon	5	2	2	1	005: 300	+2	08th
4th	North Korea	5	2	2	1	004: 300	+1	08th
5.	Sri Lanka	5	0	0	5	000:160	−16	00
As of November 19, 2019

Game results

05.09.2019	Pyongyang	North Korea	-	Lebanon	2: 0 (1: 0)
05.09.2019	Colombo	Sri Lanka	-	Turkmenistan	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/10/2019	Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	-	South Korea	0: 2 (0: 1)
09/10/2019	Colombo	Sri Lanka	-	North Korea	0: 1 (0: 0)
10/10/2019	Hwaseong	South Korea	-	Sri Lanka	8: 0 (5: 0)
10/10/2019	Beirut	Lebanon	-	Turkmenistan	2: 1 (1: 0)
October 15, 2019	Pyongyang	North Korea	-	South Korea	0-0
October 15, 2019	Colombo	Sri Lanka	-	Lebanon	0: 3 (0: 2)
11/14/2019	Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	-	North Korea	3: 1 (1: 0)
11/14/2019	Beirut	Lebanon	-	South Korea	0-0

November 19, 2019	Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	-	Sri Lanka	2: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 2019	Beirut	Lebanon	-	North Korea	0-0
08/10/2020		South Korea	-	Turkmenistan	-: - (- :–)
08/10/2020		North Korea	-	Sri Lanka	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Turkmenistan	-	Lebanon	-: - (- :–)
13/10/2020		Sri Lanka	-	South Korea	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		South Korea	-	North Korea	-: - (- :–)
11/12/2020		Lebanon	-	Sri Lanka	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		South Korea	-	Lebanon	-: - (- :–)
11/17/2020		North Korea	-	Turkmenistan	-: - (- :–)

Table of runners-up

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points	group
1.	Oman	5	4th	0	1	011: 400	+7	12	E.
2.	Kuwait	5	3	1	1	017: 300	+14	10	B.
3.	Malaysia	5	3	0	2	008: 600	+2	09	G
4th	Bahrain	5	2	3	0	003: 100	+2	09	C.
5.	South Korea	4th	2	2	0	010-000	+10	08th	H
6th	Saudi Arabia	4th	2	2	0	008: 400	+4	08th	D.
7th	China	4th	2	1	1	013: 200	+11	07th	A.
8th.	Kyrgyzstan	5	2	1	2	010: 500	+5	07th	F.
As of November 19, 2019

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Draw sets out path for Asian aspirants . In: FIFA.com . April 17, 2019. Accessed May 31, 2019.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Groups finalized for Qatar 2022 & China 2023 race . In: The-AFC.com . July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
3. ^ Announcement on the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in Asia . In: FIFA.com . March 9, 2020. Accessed June 6, 2020.
4. ↑ ^{a b} AFC announces proposed dates for upcoming Asian Qualifiers . In: The-AFC.com . June 5, 2020. Accessed June 6, 2020.
5. ↑ Because of Corona: No World Cup qualifiers in Asia this year. In: kurier.at. August 12, 2020, accessed August 12, 2020 . 
6. ^ Football - Macau not sending team to Sri Lanka due to security concerns . In: Reuters.com . June 8, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
7. ↑ FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions Macau Football Association . In: FIFA.com . June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.