# 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

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.
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. 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.

## Format

The qualification structure was as follows:
* 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. 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).
From the January 2015 FIFA World Rankings :
| Bye to the second round (Ranked 1st to 34th) | Competing in first round (Ranked 35th to 46th) |
| Iran (51)  Japan (54)  South Korea (69)  Uzbekistan (71)  United Arab Emirates (80)  Qatar (92)  Oman (93)  Jordan (93)  China (96)  Australia (100)  Saudi Arabia (102)  Bahrain (110)  Iraq (114)  Palestine (115)  Lebanon (122)  Kuwait (125)  Philippines (129)  Maldives (131)  Vietnam (133)  Tajikistan (136)  Myanmar (141)  Afghanistan (142)  Thailand (144)  Turkmenistan (147)  North Korea (150)  Syria (151)  Kyrgyzstan (152)  Malaysia (154)  Hong Kong (156)  Singapore (157)  Indonesia (159)  Laos (160)  Guam (161)  Bangladesh (165) | India (171) Sri Lanka (172) Yemen (176) Cambodia (179) Chinese Taipei (182) Timor-Leste (185) Nepal (186) Macau (186) Pakistan (188) Mongolia (194) Brunei (198) Bhutan (209) |

## Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.
| Round | Matchday | Date |
| First round | First leg | 12 March 2015 |
| First round | Second leg | 17 March 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 1 | 11 June 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 2 | 16 June 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 3 | 3 September 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 4 | 8 September 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 5 | 8 October 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 6 | 13 October 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 7 | 12 November 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 8 | 17 November 2015 |
| Second round | Matchday 9 | 24 March 2016 |
| Second round | Matchday 10 | 29 March 2016 |
| Round | Matchday | Date |
| Third round | Matchday 1 | 1 September 2016 |
| Third round | Matchday 2 | 6 September 2016 |
| Third round | Matchday 3 | 6 October 2016 |
| Third round | Matchday 4 | 11 October 2016 |
| Third round | Matchday 5 | 15 November 2016 |
| Third round | Matchday 6 | 23 March 2017 |
| Third round | Matchday 7 | 28 March 2017 |
| Third round | Matchday 8 | 13 June 2017 |
| Third round | Matchday 9 | 31 August 2017 |
| Third round | Matchday 10 | 5 September 2017 |
| Fourth round | First leg | 5 October 2017 |
| Fourth round | Second leg | 10 October 2017 |

## First round

The draw for the first round was held on 10 February 2015, 15:30 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| India | 2–0 | Nepal | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Yemen | 3–1 | Pakistan | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Timor-Leste | 5-1 | Mongolia | 4–1 | 1–0 |
| Cambodia | 4–1 | Macau | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Chinese Taipei | 2–1 | Brunei | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Sri Lanka | 1–3 | Bhutan | 0–1 | 1–2 |

### Notes

* 1 2 3 On 12 December 2017, Timor-Leste were ordered by the AFC to forfeit both matches against Mongolia due to the use of falsified documents for their players.

## Second round

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.

### Summary

| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
| Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates | Australia | Qatar China | Iran | Japan Syria | Thailand Iraq | South Korea | Uzbekistan |
| Palestine | Jordan Kyrgyzstan | Hong Kong | Oman Turkmenistan Guam | Singapore Afghanistan | Vietnam | Lebanon Kuwait Myanmar | North Korea Philippines Bahrain |
| Malaysia Timor-Leste | Tajikistan Bangladesh | Maldives Bhutan | India | Cambodia | Chinese Taipei | Laos | Yemen |
| | | | | | Indonesia | | |
* ↑ United Arab Emirates had already qualified as hosts of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, so they were only competing for World Cup qualification.

### 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):
* Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
* Overall goal difference
* Overall goals scored
* Points in matches between tied teams
* Goal difference in matches between tied teams
* Goals scored in matches between tied teams
* Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
* Fair play points
* first yellow card: minus 1 point
* indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points
* direct red card: minus 4 points
* yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
* Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 4 | +24 | 20 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 7–0 |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 4 | +21 | 17 | World Cup qualifying third round | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 10–0 | 8–0 |
| 3 | Palestine | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 6 | +16 | 12 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 6–0 | 7–0 |
| 4 | Malaysia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 29 | −25 | 4 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–6 | — | 1–1 |
| 5 | Timor-Leste | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 36 | −34 | 2 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–10 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 On 12 December 2017, AFC decided to forfeit the first five matches involving Timor-Leste – both v Malaysia, home v United Arab Emirates, away v Saudi Arbia, and home v Palestine due to the use of falsified documents for their players of Timor-Leste.
* ↑ United Arab Emirates already qualified for the Asian Cup as the host nation.
* ↑ Match abandoned after 87 minutes due to a group of supporters throwing flares at the pitch. A month later, FIFA awarded Saudi Arabia 3–0 win.

#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Australia | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 4 | +25 | 21 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 5–1 | 3–0 | 7–0 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Jordan | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 16 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 8–0 |
| 3 | Kyrgyzstan | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 14 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Tajikistan | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 5 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | — | 5–0 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 32 | −30 | 1 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — |

#### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Qatar | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 4 | +25 | 21 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 15–0 |
| 2 | China | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 1 | +26 | 17 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 12–0 |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 14 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 2–3 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 7–0 |
| 4 | Maldives | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 20 | −12 | 6 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | — | 4–2 |
| 5 | Bhutan | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 52 | −47 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–3 | 0–6 | 0–1 | 3–4 | — |

#### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Iran | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 3 | +23 | 20 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Oman | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 14 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Turkmenistan | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 13 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Guam | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 7 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–6 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 |
| 5 | India | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 18 | −13 | 3 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — |
* ↑ FIFA awarded Iran a 3–0 win as a result of India fielding the ineligible player Eugeneson Lyngdoh. The match initially ended 3–0 to Iran.

#### Group E

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Japan | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 0 | +27 | 22 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 5–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Syria | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 18 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | 0–3 | — | 1–0 | 5–2 | 6–0 |
| 3 | Singapore | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 10 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–3 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Afghanistan | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 24 | −16 | 9 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–6 | 0–6 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | Cambodia | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 27 | −26 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–2 | 0–6 | 0–4 | 0–1 | — |

#### Group F

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Thailand | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 14 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 | Canc. |
| 2 | Iraq | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 12 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 5–1 | Canc. |
| 3 | Vietnam | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 7 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 4–1 | Canc. |
| 4 | Chinese Taipei | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 19 | −14 | 0 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | Canc. |
| 5 | Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Disqualified | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | Canc. | — |
* ↑ Indonesia was also drawn into this group, but on 30 May 2015 the country's football association was suspended due to governmental interference, and on 3 June 2015 the team was disqualified and all matches involving it were cancelled.

#### Group G

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | South Korea | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | +27 | 24 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 8–0 |
| 2 | Lebanon | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 11 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–3 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 7–0 |
| 3 | Kuwait | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 10 | Disqualified | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 9–0 | 0–3 |
| 4 | Myanmar | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 21 | −12 | 8 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | — | 3–1 |
| 5 | Laos | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 29 | −23 | 4 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 0–5 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | — |
* 1 2 3 4 During this stage the Kuwait Football Association was suspended after the country had failed to comply with a decision from FIFA that its sports law had to be changed. The three remaining matches involving Kuwait – away v Myanmar, home v Laos, and away v South Korea – were not played as scheduled, and were eventually awarded as 3–0 wins for Kuwait's opponents. Kuwait was also unable to compete in the Third round of the Asian Cup qualifying, to which it would have advanced based on its ranking.

#### Group H

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 7 | +13 | 21 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 2 | North Korea | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 16 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 4–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Philippines | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 10 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 1–5 | 3–2 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| 4 | Bahrain | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 | Asian Cup qualifying third round | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | Yemen | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 17 | −15 | 3 | Asian Cup qualifying play-off round | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–4 | — |
* ↑ FIFA awarded North Korea a 3–0 win as a result of Yemen fielding the ineligible player Mudir Al-Radaei, after North Korea had defeated Yemen 1–0. Al-Radaei failed to serve an automatic one match suspension for receiving two yellow cards earlier in the First round of the competition.

### Ranking of runner-up teams

To determine the four best runner-up teams, the following criteria were used:
* Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
* Goal difference
* Goals scored
* Fair play points
* Drawing of lots
As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.
| Pos | Grp | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | F | Iraq | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 12 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup |
| 2 | E | Syria | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 12 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup |
| 3 | A | United Arab Emirates | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 4 | +12 | 11 | World Cup qualifying third round |
| 4 | C | China | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 11 | World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup |
| 5 | H | North Korea | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 10 | Asian Cup qualifying third round |
| 6 | B | Jordan | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 10 | Asian Cup qualifying third round |
| 7 | D | Oman | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | Asian Cup qualifying third round |
| 8 | G | Lebanon | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 5 | Asian Cup qualifying third round |
* ↑ United Arab Emirates already qualified for the Asian Cup as the host nation.

## 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.

### 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):
* Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
* Overall goal difference
* Overall goals scored
* Points in matches between tied teams
* Goal difference in matches between tied teams
* Goals scored in matches between tied teams
* Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
* Fair play points
* first yellow card: minus 1 point
* indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points
* direct red card: minus 4 points
* yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
* Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | 2018 FIFA World Cup | 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 | Teamvte | 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 | 2018 FIFA World Cup | 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. 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.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | 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. The fifth-placed team from AFC was drawn against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, with the AFC team hosting the second leg.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | 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 Cup |
| 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 (1974, 2006, 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
* Mohammad Al-Sahlawi
* Ahmed Khalil
11 goals
* Tim Cahill
* Sardar Azmoun
10 goals
* Omar Kharbin
9 goals
* Hassan Al-Haydos
* Ali Mabkhout
8 goals
* Yang Xu
* Mehdi Taremi
7 goals
* Mile Jedinak
* Yu Dabao
* Keisuke Honda
* Son Heung-min
6 goals
* Tom Rogic
* Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
* Shinji Kagawa
* Hamza Al-Dardour
* Taisir Al-Jassim
* Mahmoud Al-Mawas
* Manuchekhr Dzhalilov
Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:
* First round
* Second round
* Third round
* Fourth round