2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Tournament details
Dates 12 March 2015 – 10 October 2017
Teams 46 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 207
Goals scored 620 (3 per match)
Attendance 3,838,058 (18,541 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Sahlawi
( 16 goals )
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The asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Russia, for national teams which are members of the Asian Football Confederation ( AFC ). A total of 4.5 slots ( 4 lead slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot ) in the final examination tournament are available for AFC teams. 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 will be expanded to 24 teams starting in 2019. therefore, the beginning two rounds of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers besides acted as qualifiers for the 2019 AFC asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates .

format

The qualification social organization is as follows :

  • First round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 35–46) will play home-and-away over two legs. The six winners will advance to the second round.
  • Second round: A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–34 and six first round winners) will be 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 will advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals.
  • Third round: The 12 teams (an increase from 10 for 2014) which advance 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 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
  • Fourth round: The two third-placed teams of each group from the third round will play home-and-away over two legs. The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

A sum of 24 teams eliminated from World Cup qualification in the second orotund will compete in the third base turn of 2019 AFC asian Cup qualification ( which will be offprint from the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification ), where they will be divided into six groups of four teams and compete for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC asian Cup. The 24 teams will consist of the 16 highest ranked teams eliminated in the second base circle, and the eight teams that advance from the play-off round of 2019 AFC asian Cup qualification which are contested by the remaining 12 teams eliminated in the second round .

Entrants

The 46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification. In order to determine which nations would compete in the first rung and which nations would receive a bye through to the moment turn, the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015 were used ( shown in parentheses ), as that was the latest published rankings anterior to the first orotund draw. The FIFA Rankings of January 2015 were besides used for seed of the first rung draw ; however, for seeding in the second round and third round draw, the most late FIFA Rankings anterior to those draws were used .

schedule

The agenda of the contest is as follows .

Round Matchday Date
First round First leg 12 March 2015
Second leg 17 March 2015
Second round Matchday 1 11 June 2015
Matchday 2 16 June 2015
Matchday 3 3 September 2015
Matchday 4 8 September 2015
Matchday 5 8 October 2015
Matchday 6 13 October 2015
Matchday 7 12 November 2015
Matchday 8 17 November 2015
Matchday 9 24 March 2016
Matchday 10 29 March 2016
Round Matchday Date
Third round Matchday 1 1 September 2016
Matchday 2 6 September 2016
Matchday 3 6 October 2016
Matchday 4 11 October 2016
Matchday 5 15 November 2016
Matchday 6 23 March 2017
Matchday 7 28 March 2017
Matchday 8 13 June 2017
Matchday 9 31 August 2017
Matchday 10 5 September 2017
Fourth round First leg 5 October 2017
Second leg 10 October 2017

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017 .

beginning round

The draw for the first round was held on 10 February 2015, 15:30 :00|UTC+8 ] ] ), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia .

second orotund

The draw for the second round was held on 14 April 2015, at 17:00 MST ( UTC+8 ), at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia .

Groups

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers
In home-and-away league format, the ranking of teams in each group is based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):

  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Goal difference
  3. Goals scored
  4. Points in matches between tied teams
  5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams
  6. Goals scored in matches between tied teams
  7. Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie is only between two teams)
  8. Play-off match(es) on neutral ground (if approved by FIFA Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
 Saudi Arabia 8 6 2 0 28 4 +24 20 Third round and Asian Cup
 United Arab Emirates 8 5 2 1 27 4 +23 17
  palestine 8 4 2 2 24 5 +19 14

Asian Cup qualifying third round
 Malaysia 8 2 0 6 7 29 −22 6

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
template : Country data Timor-Leste 8 0 0 8 0 44 −44 0

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
 Australia 8 7 0 1 29 4 +25 21 Third round and Asian Cup
  jordan 8 5 1 2 21 7 +14 16
  Kyrgyzstan 8 4 2 2 10 8 +2 14

Asian Cup qualifying third round
  tajikistan 8 1 2 5 9 20 −11 5

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
  Bangladesh 8 0 1 7 2 32 −30 1

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
 Qatar 8 7 0 1 29 4 +25 21 Third round and Asian Cup
 China 8 5 2 1 27 1 +26 17
  Hong Kong 8 4 2 2 13 5 +8 14

Asian Cup qualifying third round
  Maldives 8 2 0 6 8 20 −12 6

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
  Bhutan 8 0 0 8 5 52 −47 0

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
 Iran 8 6 2 0 26 3 +23 20 Third round and Asian Cup
  oman 8 4 2 2 11 7 +4 14
 Turkmenistan 8 4 1 3 10 11 −1 13

Asian Cup qualifying third round
 Guam 8 2 1 5 3 16 −13 7

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
 India 8 1 0 7 5 18 −13 3

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
 Japan 8 7 1 0 27 0 +27 22 Third round and Asian Cup
 Syria 8 6 0 2 26 11 +15 18
  Singapore 8 3 1 4 9 9 0 10

Asian Cup qualifying third round
  Afghanistan 8 3 0 5 8 24 −16 9

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
  Cambodia 8 0 0 8 1 27 −26 0

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
 Thailand 6 4 2 0 14 6 +8 14 Third round and Asian Cup
 Iraq 6 3 3 0 13 6 +7 12
 Vietnam 6 2 1 3 7 8 −1 7

Asian Cup qualifying third round
  chinese Taipei 6 0 0 6 5 19 −14 0

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
  indonesia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified due to FIFA abeyance

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
  Third round and Asian Cup
 
 

Asian Cup qualifying third round
 

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
 

Group H

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
  Third round and Asian Cup
 
 

Asian Cup qualifying third round
 

Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
 

Ranking of runner-up teams

To determine the four best runner-up teams, the surveil criteria were used :

  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Goal difference
  3. Goals scored
  4. Play-off match(es) on neutral ground (if approved by FIFA Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all early groups. therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team were not counted when determining the rank of the runner-up teams .

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
  Third round and Asian Cup
 
 
 
 

Asian Cup qualifying third round
 
 
 

third base circle

The third round will consist of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two third-placed teams will proceed to the fourth cycle. The draw for the third gear beat was held on 12 April 2016, at 16:30 MST ( UTC+8 ), at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia .

Groups

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers
In home-and-away league format, the ranking of teams in each group is based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):

  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Goal difference
  3. Goals scored
  4. Points in matches between tied teams
  5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams
  6. Goals scored in matches between tied teams
  7. Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie is only between two teams)
  8. Play-off match(es) on neutral ground (if approved by FIFA Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes
 Iran (Q) 8 6 2 0 8 0 +8 20 qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
 South Korea 8 4 1 3 11 10 +1 13
 Uzbekistan 8 4 0 4 6 6 0 12 advance to fourth round
 Syria 8 2 3 3 4 5 −1 9
 Qatar 8 2 1 5 6 10 −4 7
 China 8 1 3 4 5 9 −4 6

Group B

Fourth rung

The two third-placed teams in each group from the third base round will play against each other home-and-away over two legs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs. note : order of legs to be decided .

Team #1   Agg.   Team #2   1st leg     2nd leg  
Third round Group A/B third place Third round Group A/B third place 5 Oct ’17 10 Oct ’17

Inter-confederation play-offs

The string for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as contribution 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. The fifth-placed team from AFC was drawn against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, with the AFC team hosting the irregular leg .

Team #1   Agg.   Team #2   1st leg     2nd leg  
CONCACAF 4th place Play-off 1 AFC 5th place 6 Nov ’17 14 Nov ’17

Goalscorers

As of 8 June 2017

note : Players in bold are even active in the rival .

16 goals
15 goals
  • Ahmed Khalil
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

See besides