2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Third Round

The third round of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification was played from 26 March 2017 to 27 March 2018.

Format

A total of 24 teams (16 teams which advanced from the second round and eight teams which advanced from the play-off round) compete in the third round to compete for the final 12 slots in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[1][2] Since the hosts United Arab Emirates advanced to the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, the automatic slot for the hosts is no longer necessary.

The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, where they are joined by the 12 teams which qualified directly from the second round.[3]

Qualified teams
Teams qualified from second round
Group Runners-up (Worst 4) Third place Fourth place (Best 4)
A —  Palestine —
B  Jordan  Kyrgyzstan —
C —  Hong Kong —
D  Oman  Turkmenistan  Guam[nb 1]
E —  Singapore  Afghanistan
F —  Vietnam —
G  Lebanon  Kuwait[nb 2]  Myanmar
H  North Korea  Philippines  Bahrain
Notes
  1. Guam withdrew from the tournament due to financial constraints.[4][5] The All Nepal Football Association announced on 27 December 2016 that they accepted an offer from the AFC to replace Guam.[6]
  2. The Kuwait Football Association was suspended by FIFA.[7] Kuwait had a deadline of 11 January 2017 for lifting of the suspension,[8][9] but they were unable to do so and were replaced by Macau.[10][11]
Teams qualified from play-off round
Round 1 winners
 Cambodia
 Yemen
 Tajikistan
 Malaysia
 India
Round 2 winners
 Maldives
 Bhutan
 Chinese Taipei
Teams qualified from Solidarity Cup

Due to the withdrawal of Guam and the suspension of Kuwait, the AFC invited both Nepal and Macau, the top two teams of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, to re-enter 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification as replacements in order to maintain 24 teams in the third round of the competition.[10]

Finalists
   Nepal (replaced Guam)
 Macau (replaced Kuwait)

Draw

The draw for the third round was held on 23 January 2017, 16:00 GST (UTC+4), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[12] It was initially scheduled for 18 January 2017, but was delayed.[13][9]

The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four.[12] They were seeded using the January 2017 FIFA World Rankings (indicated in parentheses below).[10][14][15]

The national teams which eventually qualified are presented in bold.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  1.  Jordan (107)
  2.  Oman (118)
  3.  Philippines (122)
  4.  Bahrain (123)
  5.  Kyrgyzstan (124)
  6.  North Korea (125)
  1.  India (129)
  2.  Palestine (131)
  3.  Tajikistan (132)
  4.  Vietnam (136)
  5.  Hong Kong (140)
  6.  Turkmenistan (143)
  1.  Maldives (145)
  2.  Lebanon (148)
  3.  Yemen (149)
  4.  Afghanistan (151)
  5.  Chinese Taipei (157)
  6.  Myanmar (159)
  1.  Malaysia (161)
  2.  Singapore (165)
  3.  Cambodia (172)
  4.    Nepal (175)
  5.  Bhutan (176)
  6.  Macau (184)

Schedule

The schedule of each matchday was as follows.[15][16][17]

Matchday Dates Matches
Matchday 1 28 March 2017 1 v 4, 3 v 2
Matchday 2 13 June 2017 4 v 3, 2 v 1
Matchday 3 5 September 2017 4 v 2, 1 v 3
Matchday 4 10 October 2017 2 v 4, 3 v 1
Matchday 5 14 November 2017 4 v 1, 2 v 3
Matchday 6 27 March 2018 1 v 2, 3 v 4

Groups
  The top two teams of each group qualify for the final tournament.
Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order (Regulations Article 9.3):[3]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  5. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying criteria 1 to 4, a subset of teams are still tied, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
  9. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
  10. Drawing of lots.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  India 6 4 1 1 11 5 +6 13[lower-alpha 1] 2019 AFC Asian Cup — 1–0 2–2 4–1
2  Kyrgyzstan 6 4 1 1 14 8 +6 13[lower-alpha 1] 2–1 — 5–1 1–0
3  Myanmar 6 2 2 2 10 10 0 8 0–1 2–2 — 1–0
4  Macau 6 0 0 6 4 16 −12 0 0–2 3–4 0–4 —
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head results: India 1–0 Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan 2–1 India (India are ahead of Kyrgyzstan on away goals).
Myanmar 0–1 India
Report
Attendance: 21,025
Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)
Kyrgyzstan 1–0 Macau
 Report
Attendance: 10,600
Referee: Masoud Tufayelieh (Syria)
Macau 0–4 Myanmar
Report
Attendance: 1,200
Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)
India 1–0 Kyrgyzstan
 Report
Attendance: 6,213
Macau 0–2 India
Report
Attendance: 600
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)
Myanmar 2–2 Kyrgyzstan
 Report
Attendance: 2,886
India 4–1 Macau
 Report
Attendance: 4,113
Macau 3–4 Kyrgyzstan
 Report
Attendance: 353
India 2–2 Myanmar
 Report
Attendance: 5,546
Kyrgyzstan 5–1 Myanmar
 Report
Attendance: 1,068
Referee: Sukhbir Singh (Singapore)
Myanmar 1–0 Macau
 Report
Attendance: 4,638
Referee: Minoru Tōjō (Japan)
Kyrgyzstan 2–1 India
 Report
Attendance: 9,588

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Lebanon 6 5 1 0 14 4 +10 16 2019 AFC Asian Cup — 5–0 2–0 2–1
2  North Korea 6 3 2 1 13 10 +3 11 2–2 — 2–0 4–1
3  Hong Kong 6 1 2 3 4 7 −3 5 0–1 1–1 — 2–0
4  Malaysia 6 0 1 5 5 15 −10 1 1–2 1–4 1–1 —
Source: AFC
Lebanon 2–0 Hong Kong
 Report
Attendance: 14,672
Hong Kong 1–1 North Korea
 Report
Attendance: 8,194
Referee: Jansen Foo (Singapore)
Malaysia 1–2 Lebanon
 Report
Attendance: 6,850
Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)
North Korea 2–2 Lebanon
 Report
Attendance: 31,000
Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)
Malaysia 1–1 Hong Kong
 Report
Attendance: 3,646
Hong Kong 2–0 Malaysia
 Report
Attendance: 7,920
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)
Lebanon 5–0 North Korea
 Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Minoru Tōjō (Japan)
North Korea 4–1 Malaysia
 Report
Attendance: 287
Malaysia 1–4 North Korea
 Report
Attendance: 504
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Hong Kong 0–1 Lebanon
Report
Attendance: 10,109
North Korea 2–0 Hong Kong
 Report
Attendance: 32,000
Referee: Omar Mohamed Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)
Lebanon 2–1 Malaysia
 Report
Attendance: 3,500

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Jordan 6 3 3 0 16 5 +11 12 2019 AFC Asian Cup — 1–1 4–1 7–0
2  Vietnam 6 2 4 0 9 3 +6 10 0–0 — 0–0 5–0
3  Afghanistan 6 1 3 2 7 10 −3 6 3–3 1–1 — 2–1
4  Cambodia 6 1 0 5 3 17 −14 3 0–1 1–2 1–0 —
Source: AFC
Afghanistan 1–1 Vietnam
 Report
Attendance: 2,500
Jordan 7–0 Cambodia
 Report
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Dmitry Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)
Cambodia 1–0 Afghanistan
 Report
Attendance: 40,000
Vietnam 0–0 Jordan
Report
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Ng Chiu Kok (Hong Kong)
Cambodia 1–2 Vietnam
 Report
Attendance: 34,587
Referee: Minoru Tōjō (Japan)
Jordan 4–1 Afghanistan
 Report
Attendance: 1,036
Afghanistan 3–3 Jordan
 Report
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Masoud Tufayelieh (Syria)
Cambodia 0–1 Jordan
Report
Attendance: 18,369
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
Vietnam 0–0 Afghanistan
Report
Attendance: 28,580
Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)
Afghanistan 2–1 Cambodia
 Report
Attendance: 3,011
Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)
Jordan 1–1 Vietnam
 Report
Attendance: 1,562

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Oman 6 5 0 1 28 5 +23 15[lower-alpha 1] 2019 AFC Asian Cup — 1–0 5–0 14–0
2  Palestine 6 5 0 1 25 3 +22 15[lower-alpha 1] 2–1 — 8–1 10–0
3  Maldives 6 2 0 4 11 19 −8 6 1–3 0–3 — 7–0
4  Bhutan 6 0 0 6 2 39 −37 0 2–4 0–2 0–2 —
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head results: Palestine 2–1 Oman, Oman 1–0 Palestine (Oman are ahead of Palestine on away goals).
Oman 14–0 Bhutan
 Report
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)
Maldives 0–3 Palestine
Report
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)
Bhutan 0–2 Maldives
Report
Attendance: 7,600
Referee: Khurram Shahzad (Pakistan)
Palestine 2–1 Oman
 Report
Attendance: 11,000
Bhutan 0–2 Palestine
Report
Attendance: 7,800
Referee: Ho Wai Sing (Hong Kong)
Oman 5–0 Maldives
 Report
Attendance: 1,136
Palestine 10–0 Bhutan
 Report
Attendance: 7,250
Maldives 1–3 Oman
 Report
Attendance: 2,884
Bhutan 2–4 Oman
 Report
Attendance: 3,100
Palestine 8–1 Maldives
 Report
Arab American University Stadium, Jenin
Attendance: 5,750
Referee: Dmitry Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)
Oman 1–0 Palestine
 Report
Attendance: 9,700
Maldives 7–0 Bhutan
 Report
Attendance: 2,443
Referee: Hasan Akrami (Iran)

Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Bahrain 6 4 1 1 15 3 +12 13 2019 AFC Asian Cup — 4–0 5–0 0–0
2  Turkmenistan 6 3 1 2 9 10 −1 10 1–2 — 2–1 2–1
3  Chinese Taipei 6 3 0 3 7 12 −5 9 2–1 1–3 — 1–0
4  Singapore 6 0 2 4 3 9 −6 2 0–3 1–1 1–2 —
Source: AFC
Chinese Taipei 1–3 Turkmenistan
 Report
Attendance: 5,898
Bahrain 0–0 Singapore
Report
Attendance: 225
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)
Singapore 1–2 Chinese Taipei
 Report
Attendance: 5,234
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)
Turkmenistan 1–2 Bahrain
 Report
Attendance: 9,500
Referee: Ma Ning (China PR)
Singapore 1–1 Turkmenistan
 Report
Attendance: 3,712
Bahrain 5–0 Chinese Taipei
 Report
Attendance: 362
Chinese Taipei 2–1 Bahrain
 Report
Attendance: 7,908
Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)
Turkmenistan 2–1 Singapore
 Report
Attendance: 15,400
Referee: Ng Chiu Kok (Hong Kong)
Turkmenistan 2–1 Chinese Taipei
 Report
Attendance: 9,500
Singapore 0–3 Bahrain
Report
Attendance: 2,628
Chinese Taipei 1–0 Singapore
 Report
Attendance: 8,139
Bahrain 4–0 Turkmenistan
 Report
Attendance: 100

Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Philippines 6 3 3 0 13 8 +5 12 2019 AFC Asian Cup — 2–2 2–1 4–1
2  Yemen 6 2 4 0 7 5 +2 10 1–1 — 2–1 2–1
3  Tajikistan 6 2 1 3 10 9 +1 7 3–4 0–0 — 3–0
4    Nepal 6 0 2 4 3 11 −8 2 0–0 0–0 1–2 —
Source: AFC
Philippines 4–1   Nepal
 Report
Attendance: 1,715
Yemen 2–1 Tajikistan
 Report
Attendance: 380
Nepal   0–0 Yemen
Report
Attendance: 700
Referee: Timur Faizullin (Kyrgyzstan)
Tajikistan 3–4 Philippines
 Report
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)
Nepal   1–2 Tajikistan
 Report
Attendance: 1,200
Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)
Philippines 2–2 Yemen
 Report
Attendance: 2,911
Tajikistan 3–0   Nepal
 Report
Hisor Central Stadium, Hisor
Attendance: 12,000
Yemen 1–1 Philippines
 Report
Attendance: 2,169
Referee: Wang Di (China PR)
Nepal   0–0 Philippines
Report
Attendance: 1,023
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)
Tajikistan 0–0 Yemen
Report
Hisor Central Stadium, Hisor
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)
Philippines 2–1 Tajikistan
 Report
Attendance: 4,671
Yemen 2–1   Nepal
 Report
Attendance: 7,535
Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

Goalscorers

There were 243 goals scored in 72 matches, for an average of 3.38 goals per match.

8 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Notes
  1. Since the Government of Kyrgyzstan had advised them that the AFC Asian Cup 2019 Final Round Group A qualifying match between Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar should not take place in Bishkek as scheduled on 5 September 2017 due to increased security concerns following Myanmar military clearance operations against Rohingya in August-September 2017,[18] the AFC decided to postpone the match.[19] On 24 November 2017, the AFC announced that the match will be played on 22 March 2018 at a neutral venue, with the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic covering all the costs of the Myanmar team and of the match organisation, including airfares and accommodation.[20] The two Member Associations will be requested to agree on the neutral venue, and if they fail to reach a consensus the AFC will make the appointment. On 12 February 2018, the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic announced that the match is to be played in Incheon, South Korea.[21]
  2. Due to the death of Kim Jong-nam that led to a diplomatic crisis between Malaysia and North Korea, the Malaysian government decided to disallow the Malaysian football team from playing in North Korea for safety reasons. On 10 March 2017, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that North Korea's home match against Malaysia, originally scheduled for 28 March at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, would be postponed,[22] with the AFC announcing on 15 March 2017 that the match would be played on 8 June.[23] On 17 May 2017, the AFC announced that the match was postponed for a second time, to 5 October, due to "geo-political tension on the Korean Peninsula".[24] On 28 September 2017, the AFC announced that the match was again postponed after the Malaysian government announced a travel ban on Malaysian nationals visiting North Korea.[25] On 20 October 2017, the AFC announced that both matches between North Korea and Malaysia would be played at a neutral venue in the interests of competition fairness, with North Korea's "home" match played on 10 November 2017 and Malaysia's "home" match played on 13 November 2017.[26]
  3. On 15 March 2017, the AFC announced that should diplomatic relations between the two countries not return to normal, the match between North Korea and Malaysia would be played at a neutral venue, and Malaysia's home match against North Korea would also be moved to a neutral venue to preserve sporting values and the spirit of fair play.[23] After the AFC received confirmation that Malaysians were allowed to travel to North Korea, the AFC agreed that the match would be played in Pyongyang.[27] However, at the announcement of the second postponement, the AFC said the venue would be decided after monitoring the safety and security of the AFC Cup and AFC U-23 Championship qualifying matches taking place in North Korea in the coming months.[24] On 20 October 2017, the AFC announced that both matches between North Korea and Malaysia would be played at a neutral venue in the interests of competition fairness, with North Korea's "home" match played on 10 November 2017 and Malaysia's "home" match played on 13 November 2017,[26] which were later confirmed to be played at Thailand.[28]
  4. Afghanistan played their home matches in Tajikistan due to security concerns from the war in Afghanistan.
  5. The Singapore - Chinese Taipei match, originally scheduled for 13 June 2017 at the Singapore National Stadium, was brought forward at the request of the Football Association of Singapore to accommodate a possible Singapore - Argentina friendly at the same location on 13 June. In addition, the game will be held away from the Singapore National Stadium due to the venue hosting a rugby test match between Scotland and Italy on the new date.[29]
  6. Yemen played their home matches in Qatar due to security concerns from the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.

References
  1. "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  2. "World Cup draw looms large in Asia". FIFA.com. 13 April 2015. Completing the [Asian Cup] tournament's qualifying contenders will be the next 16 highest ranked teams, with the remaining 12 sides battling it out in play-off matches to claim the last eight spots.
  3. "AFC Asian Cup 2019 Competition Regulations". AFC.
  4. "Matao Asian Cup campaign officially ends with withdrawal". Guam Football Association. 29 December 2016. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  5. "Matao drop out of Asia Cup qualifiers". Guam Pacific Daily News. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. "Nepal to compete in AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers". All Nepal Football Association. Archived from the original on 2016-12-28. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  7. "FIFA Congress drives football forward, first female secretary general appointed". FIFA. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  8. "Deadline for decision on Kuwait's participation extended". AFC. 23 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  9. "Жеребьевка отборочного турнира Кубка Азии-2019 перенесена на 23 января" [The draw for 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers moved to 23 January] (in Russian). Tajikistan Football Federation. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  10. "Teams for final round of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 qualifiers confirmed". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  11. "2019亞洲盃外圍賽第三圈賽事事宜" (in Chinese). Macau Football Association. 13 January 2017.
  12. "Draw for final round of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 qualifiers concluded". AFC. 23 January 2017.
  13. "AFC Competitions Committee recommends new AFC Cup format". AFC. 25 November 2016.
  14. "FIFA Men's Ranking – January 2017 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 12 January 2017.
  15. "AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers Draw Mechanism" (PDF). AFC.
  16. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017" (PDF). AFC.
  17. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2018" (PDF). AFC. 15 November 2017.
  18. "Kyrgyzstan v Myanmar postponed Kygyz PM warns of 'security threat'". Inside World Football. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  19. "Kyrgyz Republic-Myanmar AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifier postponed". AFC. 4 September 2017.
  20. "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC. 24 November 2017.
  21. "Официально: Матч отборочного раунда Кубка Азии-2019 Кыргызская Республика – Мьянма состоится 22 марта в Южной Корее" (in Russian). Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  22. "AFC postpones DPR Korea and Malaysia match". AFC. 10 March 2017.
  23. "DPR Korea – Malaysia AFC Asian Cup Qualifier to take place on June 8". AFC. 15 March 2017.
  24. "AFC postpones DPR Korea v Malaysia Asian Cup Qualifier". AFC. 17 May 2017.
  25. "DPR Korea–Malaysia AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifying match postponed". AFC. 28 September 2017.
  26. "DPR Korea and Malaysia matches to be played in neutral venue". AFC. 20 October 2017.
  27. "Latest on DPR Korea versus Malaysia match". AFC. 8 May 2017.
  28. "DPR Korea vs Malaysia matches to be played in Thailand". AFC. 24 October 2017.
  29. "Singapore to host Argentina, probably without Messi, at National Stadium in June".
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