# 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for Asia.
The Asian Football Confederation was allocated four and half qualifying berths for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea and Japan, the co-hosts, qualified automatically, leaving two and half spots open for competition between 40 teams. Myanmar withdrew from the tournament after being placed in Group 2 but before any matches had been played, therefore reducing the group to 3 teams.
Afghanistan, Bhutan and North Korea chose not to participate.
Asia's two remaining automatic qualifying berths were taken by Saudi Arabia and China.
Iran defeated United Arab Emirates for the chance to become the possible third Asian qualifier, but lost to Ireland in the inter-continental play-off.

## Format

There were three rounds of play:
* First round: The 39 teams were divided into nine groups of four teams each, and one group of three teams. The teams played against each other twice, except in group 2, where the teams played against each other once. The group winners advanced to the second round.
* Second round: The 10 teams were divided into two groups of five teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified for the World Cup. The runners-up advanced to the AFC play-off.
* Play-off: The two teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner advanced to the UEFA–AFC inter-continental play-off.

## First round
### Group 1

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Oman | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 3 | +30 | 16 | Second round | — | 2–0 | 12–0 | 7–0 |
| 2 | Syria | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 6 | +34 | 13 | | 3–3 | — | 11–0 | 12–0 |
| 3 | Laos | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 40 | −37 | 4 | | 0–7 | 0–9 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Philippines | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 29 | −27 | 1 | | 0–2 | 1–5 | 1–1 | — |

### Group 2

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Iran | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | +21 | 6 | Second round | — | 2–0 | 19–0 | — |
| 2 | Tajikistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 2 | +14 | 3 | | — | — | 16–0 | — |
| 3 | Guam | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | −35 | 0 | | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Myanmar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew | — | — | — | — |

### Group 3

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Qatar | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 16 | Second round | — | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Palestine | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 7 | | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 7 | | 0–0 | 4–3 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 4 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — |

### Group 4

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Bahrain | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 15 | Second round | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Kuwait | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 13 | | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Kyrgyzstan | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 4 | | 1–2 | 0–3 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Singapore | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — |

### Group 5

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Thailand | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 16 | Second round | — | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Lebanon | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 5 | +21 | 13 | | 1–2 | — | 4–0 | 6–0 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 20 | −12 | 4 | | 0–3 | 0–5 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 29 | −24 | 1 | | 0–6 | 1–8 | 3–3 | — |

### Group 6

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Iraq | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 5 | +23 | 14 | Second round | — | 1–1 | 4–2 | 8–0 |
| 2 | Kazakhstan | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 2 | +18 | 14 | | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Nepal | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 25 | −12 | 6 | | 1–9 | 0–6 | — | 4–1 |
| 4 | Macau | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 31 | −29 | 0 | | 0–5 | 0–5 | 1–6 | — |

### Group 7

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 14 | Second round | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 7–0 |
| 2 | Turkmenistan | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 12 | | 2–5 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Jordan | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 8 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 6–0 |
| 4 | Chinese Taipei | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 25 | −25 | 0 | | 0–4 | 0–5 | 0–2 | — |

### Group 8

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 5 | +16 | 12 | Second round | — | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Yemen | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 11 | | 2–1 | — | 3–3 | 1–0 |
| 3 | India | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 11 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 5–0 |
| 4 | Brunei | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | −28 | 0 | | 0–12 | 0–5 | 0–1 | — |

### Group 9

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | China | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 | +22 | 18 | Second round | — | 5–1 | 10–1 | 3–1 |
| 2 | Indonesia | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 12 | | 0–2 | — | 5–0 | 6–0 |
| 3 | Maldives | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 19 | −11 | 4 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 6–0 |
| 4 | Cambodia | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 1 | | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |

### Group 10

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | +30 | 18 | Second round | — | 5–0 | 6–0 | 6–0 |
| 2 | Vietnam | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 10 | | 0–4 | — | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Bangladesh | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 5 | | 0–3 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 |
| 4 | Mongolia | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 1 | | 0–6 | 0–1 | 0–3 | — |

## Second round
### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 17 | 2002 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Iran | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 15 | Play-off | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Bahrain | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 10 | | 0–4 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 4 | Iraq | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 7 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 |
| 5 | Thailand | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 4 | | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | China | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 2 | +11 | 19 | 2002 FIFA World Cup | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 11 | Play-off | 0–1 | — | 4–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 |
| 3 | Uzbekistan | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 10 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 5–0 |
| 4 | Qatar | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 |
| 5 | Oman | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 6 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–3 | — |

## Play-off

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Iran | 4–0 | United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | 0–3 |

## Inter-confederation play-offs

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Republic of Ireland | 2–1 | Iran | 2–0 | 0–1 |

## Qualified teams

The following four teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup |
| Japan | Hosts | 31 May 1996 | 1 (1998) |
| South Korea | Hosts | 31 May 1996 | 5 (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) |
| Saudi Arabia | Second round group A winners | 21 October 2001 | 2 (1994, 1998) |
| China | Second round group B winners | 7 October 2001 | 0 (debut) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

## Top goalscorers

There were 587 goals scored in 153 matches, for an average of 3.84 goals per match.
11 goals
* Hani Al-Dhabit
* Yaqoob Juma Al-Mukhaini
* Talal Al-Meshal
* Said Bayazid
10 goals
* Ali Daei
* Obeid Al-Dosari
* Kiatisuk Senamuang
* Yaser Salem Ali
* Jafar Irismetov
9 goals
* Hesham Mohammed
8 goals
* Karim Bagheri
* Sami Al-Jaber
* Mirjalol Qosimov
Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:
* First round
* Second round
* Play-off