2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

The Asian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams which are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Apart from Qatar, who qualified automatically as hosts, a total of 4.5 slots (4 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament are available for AFC teams.[1]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Tournament details
Dates6 June 2019 – 16 November 2021
Teams46 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played107
Goals scored313 (2.93 per match)
Attendance1,611,133 (15,057 per match)
Top scorer(s) Omar Al Somah (7 goals)
Qualification for
championships (AFC)

The qualification process involves four rounds, where the first two rounds double as the qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Despite qualifying as hosts, Qatar are participating in these first two rounds to seek Asian Cup qualification. The first two rounds also act as qualifiers for the 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup.[2]

Format

The qualification structure is as follows:[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 advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup finals. Should Qatar finish as group winners or one of the best four runners-up, the fifth-best runners-up will take their place in the third round.[4]
  • Third round: 12 teams which will have advanced from the second round will be divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the World Cup, and the third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
  • Fourth round: The two third-placed teams from the third round will play home and away over two legs. The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Entrants

All 46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification. The FIFA World Rankings of April 2019 were used to determine which nations would compete in the first round. For seeding in the second round and third round draws, the most recent FIFA Rankings prior to those draws will be used.

Due to the joint format of the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, both Qatar (as the host nation of the 2022 World Cup) and China (as the host nation of the 2023 Asian Cup) will also enter the second round of the qualifiers.[5]

Timor-Leste was banned from participating in the Asian Cup qualification after being found to have fielded a total of 12 ineligible players in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches among other competitions.[6] However, as FIFA did not ban them from the World Cup qualifiers, Timor-Leste was allowed to enter the competition, but was ineligible to qualify for the Asian Cup.[7]

From the April 2019 FIFA World Rankings[8]
Bye to the second round
(Ranked 1st to 34th)		 Competing in first round
(Ranked 35th to 46th)
  1.  Iran (21)
  2.  Japan (26)
  3.  South Korea (37)
  4.  Australia (41)
  5.  Qatar (55)
  6.  United Arab Emirates (67)
  7.  Saudi Arabia (72)
  8.  China PR (74)
  9.  Iraq (76)
  10.  Syria (83)
  11.  Uzbekistan (85)
  12.  Lebanon (86)
  13.  Oman (86)
  14.  Kyrgyzstan (95)
  15.  Jordan (97)
  16.  Vietnam (98)
  17.  Palestine (99)
  18.  India (101)
  19.  Bahrain (111)
  20.  Thailand (114)
  21.  Tajikistan (120)
  22.  North Korea (121)
  23.  Philippines (124)
  24.  Chinese Taipei (125)
  25.  Turkmenistan (136)
  26.  Myanmar (140)
  27.  Hong Kong (141)
  28.  Yemen (146)
  29.  Afghanistan (149)
  30.  Maldives (151)
  31.  Kuwait (156)
  32.  Indonesia (159)
  33.  Singapore (160)
  34.    Nepal (161)
  1.  Malaysia (168)
  2.  Cambodia (173)
  3.  Macau (183)
  4.  Laos (184)
  5.  Bhutan (186)
  6.  Mongolia (187)
  7.  Bangladesh (188)
  8.  Guam (193)
  9.  Brunei (194)
  10.  Timor-Leste (195)
  11.  Pakistan (200)
  12.  Sri Lanka (202)

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is expected to be as follows.[9][10][11]

On 9 March 2020, FIFA and AFC announced that the second round matches on matchdays 7–10 due to take place in March and June 2020 were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the new dates to be confirmed. However, subject to approval by FIFA and AFC, and agreement of both member associations, the matches may be played as scheduled provided that the safety of all individuals involved meets the required standards.[12][13] On 5 June 2020, AFC confirmed that Matchdays 7 and 8 were scheduled to take place on 8 and 13 October respectively while Matchdays 9 and 10 were scheduled to kick off on 12 and 17 November.[14]

Round Matchday Date
First round First leg 6 June 2019
Second leg 11 June 2019
Second round Matchday 1 5 September 2019
Matchday 2 10 September 2019
Matchday 3 10 October 2019
Matchday 4 15 October 2019
Matchday 5 14 November 2019
Matchday 6 19 November 2019
Matchday 7 8 October 2020 (originally 26 March 2020)
Matchday 8 13 October 2020 (originally 31 March 2020)
Matchday 9 12 November 2020 (originally 4 June 2020)
Matchday 10 17 November 2020 (originally 9 June 2020)
Round Matchday Date
Third round Matchday 1 TBC (originally 3 September 2020)
Matchday 2 TBC (originally 8 September 2020)
Matchday 3 TBC (originally 13 October 2020)
Matchday 4 TBC (originally 12 November 2020)
Matchday 5 TBC (originally 17 November 2020)
Matchday 6 TBC (originally 25 March 2021)
Matchday 7 TBC (originally 30 March 2021)
Matchday 8 TBC (originally 8 June 2021)
Matchday 9 TBC (originally 7 September 2021)
Matchday 10 TBC (originally 12 October 2021)
Fourth round First leg TBC (originally 11 November 2021)
Second leg TBC (originally 16 November 2021)

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played in March 2022.

First round
Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC First Round

The draw for the first round was held on 17 April 2019 at 11:00 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[15]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mongolia  3–2  Brunei 2–0 1–2
Macau  1–3[note 1]  Sri Lanka 1–0 0–3 (awd.)
Laos  0–1  Bangladesh 0–1 0–0
Malaysia  12–2  Timor-Leste 7–1 5–1
Cambodia  4–1  Pakistan 2–0 2–1
Bhutan  1–5  Guam 1–0 0–5

Second round
Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round

The draw for the second round was held on 17 July 2019 at 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[19]

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Syria 5 5 0 0 14 4 +10 15 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–1 1–0 2–1 4–0
2  China PR 4 2 1 1 13 2 +11 7 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 17 Nov — 12 Nov 8 Oct 7–0
3  Philippines 5 2 1 2 8 8 0 7 Asian Cup qualifying third round 2–5 0–0 — 17 Nov 8 Oct
4  Maldives 5 2 0 3 6 10 −4 6 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 13 Oct 0–5 1–2 — 3–1
5  Guam (Z) 5 0 0 5 2 19 −17 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 12 Nov 13 Oct 1–4 0–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(Z) Eliminated from the World Cup.
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.





Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 4 4 0 0 16 1 +15 12 Third round and Asian Cup — 8 Oct 17 Nov 5–0 12 Nov
2  Kuwait 5 3 1 1 17 3 +14 10 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 0–3 — 13 Oct 7–0 9–0
3  Jordan 5 3 1 1 10 2 +8 10 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–1 0–0 — 3–0 5–0
4    Nepal (Y) 5 1 0 4 2 16 −14 3 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 13 Oct 0–1 12 Nov — 8 Oct
5  Chinese Taipei (Z) 5 0 0 5 2 25 −23 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 1–7 17 Nov 1–2 0–2 —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(Y) Cannot win group, may still advance as group runner-up; (Z) Eliminated from the World Cup.
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.





Group C


Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iraq 5 3 2 0 9 2 +7 11 Third round and Asian Cup — 0–0 2–1 2–0 12 Nov
2  Bahrain 5 2 3 0 3 1 +2 9 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 — 1–0 17 Nov 8 Oct
3  Iran 4 2 0 2 17 3 +14 6 Asian Cup qualifying third round 17 Nov 12 Nov — 8 Oct 14–0
4  Hong Kong 5 1 2 2 3 5 −2 5 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 13 Oct 0–0 0–2 — 2–0
5  Cambodia (Y) 5 0 1 4 1 22 −21 1 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–4 0–1 13 Oct 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(Y) Cannot win group, may still advance as group runner-up.
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.




Group D


Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uzbekistan 5 3 0 2 12 6 +6 9 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–3 12 Nov 5–0 2–0
2  Saudi Arabia 4 2 2 0 8 4 +4 8 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 17 Nov — 3–0 8 Oct 12 Nov
3  Singapore 5 2 1 2 7 10 −3 7 Asian Cup qualifying third round 1–3 13 Oct — 2–2 2–1
4  Yemen 5 1 2 2 6 11 −5 5 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 13 Oct 2–2 1–2 — 1–0
5  Palestine 5 1 1 3 3 5 −2 4 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 2–0 0–0 8 Oct 17 Nov —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.




Group E



Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Qatar 5 4 1 0 11 1 +10 13 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–1 6–0 0–0 13 Oct
2  Oman 5 4 0 1 11 4 +7 12 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 12 Nov — 3–0 1–0 4–1
3  Afghanistan (Y) 5 1 1 3 2 11 −9 4 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–1 13 Oct — 1–1 1–0
4  India (Y) 5 0 3 2 3 5 −2 3 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 8 Oct 1–2 17 Nov — 1–1
5  Bangladesh (Y) 4 0 1 3 2 8 −6 1 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–2 17 Nov 8 Oct 12 Nov —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(Y) Cannot win group, may still advance as group runner-up.
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.



Group F



Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan 4 4 0 0 13 0 +13 12 Third round and Asian Cup — 17 Nov 12 Nov 8 Oct 6–0
2  Kyrgyzstan 5 2 1 2 10 5 +5 7 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 — 1–1 7–0 12 Nov
3  Tajikistan 5 2 1 2 6 8 −2 7 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 1–0 — 17 Nov 8 Oct
4  Myanmar 5 2 0 3 5 13 −8 6 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 0–2 13 Oct 4–3 — 1–0
5  Mongolia 5 1 0 4 2 10 −8 3 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 13 Oct 1–2 0–1 1–0 —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.



Group G




Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Vietnam 5 3 2 0 5 1 +4 11 Third round and Asian Cup — 1–0 0–0 1–0 12 Nov
2  Malaysia 5 3 0 2 8 6 +2 9 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 13 Oct — 2–1 1–2 2–0
3  Thailand 5 2 2 1 6 3 +3 8 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–0 17 Nov — 2–1 8 Oct
4  United Arab Emirates 4 2 0 2 8 4 +4 6 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 17 Nov 8 Oct 12 Nov — 5–0
5  Indonesia (Z) 5 0 0 5 3 16 −13 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 1–3 2–3 0–3 13 Oct —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(Z) Eliminated from the World Cup.
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.


Group H




Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Turkmenistan 5 3 0 2 8 5 +3 9 Third round and Asian Cup — 0–2 13 Oct 3–1 2–0
2  South Korea 4 2 2 0 10 0 +10 8 Third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1] 8 Oct — 17 Nov 12 Nov 8–0
3  Lebanon 5 2 2 1 5 3 +2 8 Asian Cup qualifying third round 2–1 0–0 — 0–0 12 Nov
4  North Korea 5 2 2 1 4 3 +1 8 Asian Cup qualifying third round or play-off round[lower-alpha 2] 17 Nov 0–0 2–0 — 8 Oct
5  Sri Lanka (Z) 5 0 0 5 0 16 −16 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–2 13 Oct 0–3 0–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(Z) Eliminated from the World Cup.
Notes:
  1. The four best runners-up across all groups will advance to the World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup. The remaining four runners-up will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round
  2. The four best fourth-placed teams across all groups will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. The remaining four fourth-placed teams will advance to the Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.


Ranking of runner-up teams





Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 E  Oman 5 4 0 1 11 4 +7 12 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup
2 B  Kuwait 5 3 1 1 17 3 +14 10
3 G  Malaysia 5 3 0 2 8 6 +2 9
4 C  Bahrain 5 2 3 0 3 1 +2 9
5 H  South Korea 4 2 2 0 10 0 +10 8 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup or Asian Cup qualifying third round[lower-alpha 1]
6 D  Saudi Arabia 4 2 2 0 8 4 +4 8 Asian Cup qualifying third round
7 A  China PR 4 2 1 1 13 2 +11 7
8 F  Kyrgyzstan 5 2 1 2 10 5 +5 7
Updated to match(es) played on 19 November 2019. Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Should Qatar win Group E or be among the four best runners-up, they will advance to 2023 AFC Asian Cup only. The fifth best runner-up will take Qatar's place in the World Cup qualifying third round.[4]

Third round

The third round consists of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group will qualify for the World Cup. The two third-placed teams proceed to the fourth round.

Fourth round

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

Inter-confederation play-offs

The inter-confederation play-offs format is expected to be announced at a later date. Matches are scheduled to be played in June 2022.[20]

Qualified teams

The following teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 QatarHosts2 December 20100 (debut)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Top goalscorers

There have been 313 goals scored in 107 matches, for an average of 2.93 goals per match (as of 19 November 2019). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

See also

Notes
  1. Macau did not send their team for the second leg due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[16] The AFC referred the matter to FIFA,[17] and FIFA announced on 27 June 2019 that the match was declared a 3–0 forfeit victory to Sri Lanka, and consequently qualifying Sri Lanka to the second round.[18]

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. "Uzbekistan, Bahrain recommended as hosts for 2020 AFC U-19 & U-16 Championships". AFC. 17 September 2019.
  3. "Pakistan to learn World Cup, Asian Cup qualifying fate on April 17". Dawn.com. 22 March 2019.
  4. "Groups finalised for Qatar 2022 & China 2023 race". The-AFC.com. AFC. 17 July 2019.
  5. Palmer, Dan (31 July 2017). "Hosts Qatar to compete in qualifying for 2022 World Cup". insidethegames.biz.
  6. "Federação Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". AFC. 20 January 2017.
  7. "Road to Qatar 2022: Asian teams discover Round 1 opponents". Asian Football Confederation. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  8. "FIFA Men's Ranking – April 2019 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 4 April 2019.
  9. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2019" (PDF). AFC. 21 March 2019.
  10. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020" (PDF). AFC. 15 May 2019.
  11. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2021" (PDF). AFC. 21 March 2019.
  12. "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers". FIFA.com. 9 March 2020.
  13. "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers". AFC. 9 March 2020.
  14. "AFC announces proposed dates for upcoming Asian Qualifiers". Asian Football Confederation. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  15. "Draw sets out path for Asian aspirants". FIFA.com. 17 April 2019.
  16. "Football - Macau not sending team to Sri Lanka due to security concerns". Reuters. 8 June 2019.
  17. "AFC Statement". AFC. 10 June 2019.
  18. "FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions Macau Football Association". FIFA.com. 27 June 2019.
  19. "Asian Qualifiers draw to provide pathway to Qatar and China". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 17 June 2019.
  20. "INTERNATIONAL MATCH CALENDAR 2018–2024" (PDF). FIFA. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
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