2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12 March 2015 – 10 October 2017 |
| Teams | 45[note 1] (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 223 |
| Goals scored | 665 (2.98 per match) |
| Attendance | 4,377,585 (19,630 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Mohammad Al-Sahlawi[A] Ahmed Khalil(16 goals each) |
← 2014 2022 → | |
| AFC Asian Qualifiers |
|---|
The Asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, held in Russia, for national teams which were members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). 4.5 slots (four direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament were available for AFC teams.[1]
On 16 April 2014, the AFC Executive Committee approved a proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup, which expanded to 24 teams starting in 2019.[2] Therefore, the first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers also acted as qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The qualification structure was as follows:[2][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 advanced to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification.
- Third round: 12 teams (an increase from ten for 2014) which had advanced from the second round were divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams advanced to the fourth round.
- Fourth round: Two third-placed teams of each group from the third round played home-and-away over two legs. The winners advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Entrants
The 46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification.[4] In order to determine which nations would compete in the first round and which nations would receive a bye through to the second round, the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015 were used (shown in parentheses), as those were the latest published rankings prior to the first round draw. The FIFA Rankings of January 2015 were also used for seeding of the first round draw; however, for seeding in the second round and third round draws, the most recent FIFA Rankings prior to those draws were used.
This was the first effective participation of Bhutan, the country registered for the qualifications of 2010 but withdrew without playing a game (initially drawn against Kuwait in the first round).
| Bye to the second round (Ranked 1st to 34th) |
Competing in first round (Ranked 35th to 46th) |
|---|---|
|
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[6][7][8]
|
|
First round
Second round
Third round
The third round consisted of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two third-placed teams proceeded to the fourth round.
The draw for the third round was held on 12 April 2016, at 16:30 MST (UTC+8), at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[25][26]
Groups
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[27]
|
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran |
10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 22 | 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | South Korea |
10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 15 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | ||
| 3 | Syria |
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 13 | Fourth round | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | |
| 4 | Uzbekistan |
10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 13 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 5 | China |
10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 12 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 6 | Qatar |
10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 7 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
|
 |
|
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan |
10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 7 | +10 | 20 | 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia |
10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 10 | +7 | 19 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Australia |
10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 19 | Fourth round | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates |
10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 13 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 5 | Iraq |
10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 11 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 | ||
| 6 | Thailand |
10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 24 | −18 | 2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — |
Fourth round
The two third-placed teams in each group from the third round played against each other home-and-away over two legs to determine which team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
The order of legs was announced during the draw for the third round.[28] Syria played their home match, as with all their home matches in the third round, in Malaysia due to the war time condition in Syria.[29]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syria |
2–3 | Australia |
1–1 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |
Inter-confederation play-offs
The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg.[30] The fifth-placed team from AFC was drawn against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, with the AFC team hosting the second leg.[31]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Honduras  |
1–3 | Australia |
0–0 | 1–3 |
Qualified teams
The following five teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iran | Third round group A winners | 12 June 2017 | 4 (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014) |
| Japan | Third round group B winners | 31 August 2017 | 5 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) |
| South Korea | Third round group A runners-up | 5 September 2017 | 9 (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) |
| Saudi Arabia | Third round group B runners-up | 5 September 2017 | 4 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006) |
| Australia | CONCACAF v AFC play-off winners | 15 November 2017 | 4 (19742, 20062, 2010, 2014) |
- 1 Italic indicates hosts for that year.
- 2 Australia qualified as a member of the OFC in 1974 and 2006 (qualifying took place until 2005 and they left the OFC and joined the AFC in 2006).
Top goalscorers
There were 665 goals scored in 223 matches, for an average of 2.98 goals per match.
16 goals
11 goals
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
Below are full goalscorer lists for each round: