# 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification

The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification phase determined the teams which advanced to the final tournament. The qualification draw was held on 11 December 2012, in AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

## Qualified nations

| Country | Qualified as | Date qualification was secured | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Maldives | Hosts | 28 November 2012 | 1 (2012) |
| Afghanistan | Group C winner | 6 March 2013 | 2 (2006, 2008) |
| Myanmar | Group A winner | 6 March 2013 | 2 (2008, 2010) |
| Palestine | Group D winner | 6 March 2013 | 2 (2006, 2012) |
| Kyrgyzstan | Group B winner | 21 March 2013 | 2 (2006, 2010) |
| Philippines | Group E winner | 26 March 2013 | 2 (2006, 2012) |
| Turkmenistan | Best second place team | 26 March 2013 | 3 (2008, 2010, 2012) |
| Laos | Best second place team | 20 March 2013 | 0 (debut) |

### Notes

* ↑ Bangladesh originally qualified for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup, but with Brunei's withdrawal, their result against bottom-placed Northern Mariana Islands were declared void, leaving Turkmenistan and Laos as the best two second-placed teams.

## Format

Twenty teams expressed their interest to take part before the deadline of 7 September 2012. The Northern Mariana Islands made their Challenge Cup debut after having been approved by the AFC to participate (the Northern Mariana Islands is an associate member of the AFC).
It was decided that starting from this tournament, an automatic qualification place will be given to the AFC Challenge Cup host. The hosting rights were given to Maldives in the AFC Competitions Committee meeting on 28 November.
The twenty teams involved in the qualification draw were drawn into five groups of four teams, with each group containing one team from each of the following seeding pots. Teams in each group will play a single round-robin at a pre-determined host country. The five group winners plus the two best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals.
Below the table of national teams that participated in this qualifications along with their FIFA ranking (and points) as of 7 November 2012 (in bracket with their numbers of ranking are bolded)
| Pot 1 ( Hosts ) | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Kyrgyzstan (200; 20 pts)  Laos (179; 80 pts)  Myanmar (156; 149 pts)  Nepal (169; 116 pts)  Philippines (143; 184 pts) | Turkmenistan (129; 254 pts)  Palestine (149; 168 pts)  Tajikistan (137; 225 pts)  India (169; 116 pts)  Afghanistan (167; 121 pts) | Pakistan (180; 72 pts)  Bangladesh (171; 114 pts)  Sri Lanka (182; 68 pts)  Chinese Taipei (176; 90 pts)  Cambodia (191; 49 pts) | Macau (199; 22 pts)  Mongolia (186; 55 pts)  Brunei (187; 52 pts) (Withdrew on 20 March 2013)  Guam (181; 71 pts)  Northern Mariana Islands (Not ranked; N/A pt) |
Following teams did not enter qualifications :
| Team (ranking; points at FIFA ranking) | Reason of not entered qualifications |
| Maldives (160; 135 pts) | Qualified as host |
| North Korea (81; 445 pts) | Excluded as they won two previous editions of AFC Challenge Cup |
| East Timor (187; 52 pts) | Either chosen not to participate or missed deadline |
| Bhutan (207; 0 pt) | Either chosen not to participate or missed deadline |
Notes :
* It was reported on 26 October 2012 that Cambodia withdrew, citing financial and competitive concerns. However, they were included in the draw.
* Bangladesh were not one of the original 20 teams which the AFC announced as entrants.
* Brunei withdrew their participation a day before the AFC Challenge Cup qualifier in Manila citing unavoidable circumstances. The last minute withdrawal puts the country in a possible AFC Challenge Cup ban. Brunei were supposed to be in Group E of the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers against hosts Philippines, Cambodia and Turkmenistan.

## Groups

Groups A, C and D were played 2–6 March 2013, Group B was played 17–21 March 2013, and Group E was played 22–26 March 2013.
* Key to colours in group tables
* Group winners and two best second-placed teams qualify for the finals

### Tiebreakers

In each group, the teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order:
* Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
* Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
* Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned (Away goals do not apply)
* Goal difference in all the group matches
* Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches
* Kicks from the penalty mark if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play
* Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
* Drawing of lots

### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Myanmar | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 7 |
| India | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 6 |
| Guam | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 3 |
| Chinese Taipei | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
* Matches played in Myanmar (all times UTC+6:30).

### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Kyrgyzstan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 9 |
| Tajikistan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| Pakistan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Macau | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 |
* Matches played in Kyrgyzstan (all times UTC+6).

### Group C

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Afghanistan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 |
| Laos | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 5 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Mongolia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 |
* Matches played in Laos (all times UTC+7).

### Group D

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Palestine | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 7 |
| Bangladesh | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 |
| Nepal | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 4 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | −19 | 0 |
* Matches played in Nepal (all times UTC+5:45).
* Match times were originally scheduled at 14:30 and 17:30 but were changed to 14:00 and 17:05 due to technical reasons.
* Match times of the last round of matches were changed again to 15:15 and 18:15 due to bandh organized by political parties.

### Group E

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Philippines | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 6 |
| Turkmenistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 3 |
| Cambodia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | −15 | 0 |
* Matches played in the Philippines (all times UTC+8).
* On 20 March 2013, Brunei withdrew due to "unavoidable circumstances".

### Ranking of second-placed teams

To determine the two best second-placed teams, the following criteria were used:
* Number of points obtained in the group matches
* Goal difference in the group matches
* Greater number of goals scored in the group matches
* Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
* Drawing of lots
For this ranking, the non-participation of Brunei in Group E meant that the results of the matches in the four other groups between the runner-up and the bottom-placed team were declared null and void based on Article 16.1 and Appendix 2 of the tournament regulations.
| Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| C | Laos | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
| E | Turkmenistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 3 |
| A | India | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 |
| D | Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| B | Tajikistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |

## Goalscorers
### 5 goals

* Phil Younghusband

### 3 goals

* Shakhawat Hossain Rony
* David Tetteh
* Bharat Khawas
* Khaled Salem

### 2 goals

* Balal Arezou
* Toklis Ahmed
* Jason Cunillfe
* Sunil Chhetri
* Jewel Raja
* Vilayout Sayyabounsou
* Soe Min Oo
* Abdelhamid Abuhabib
* Alaa Atiya
* Haytham Dheeb
* Javier Patiño
* Chathura Gunaratne
* Malik Migara
* Jamshed Ismailov
* Wladimir Baýramow

### 1 goal

* Sandjar Ahmadi
* Ashraf Mahmud Linkon
* Lee Meng-Chian
* Lee Tai-Lin
* Ian Mariano
* Clifford Miranda
* Robin Singh
* Sangvone Phimmasen
* Khampheng Sayavutthi
* Viengsavanh Sayyaboun
* Soukaphone Vongchiengkham
* Tsedenbal Tumenjargal
* Kyaw Zayar Win
* Kyi Lin
* Pai Soe
* Pyae Phyo Aung
* Soe Kyaw Kyaw
* Sandip Rai
* Santosh Sahukhala
* Raju Tamang
* Hassan Bashir
* Kalim Ullah
* Eyad Abugharqud
* Carli de Murga
* Stephan Schröck
* Charitha Ratnayake
* Jahongir Ergashev
* Khurshed Makhmudov
* Guwanç Abylow
* Arslanmyrat Amanow
* Gurbangeldi Batyrow
* Berdi Şamyradow

### Own goal

* Om Thavrak (playing against Turkmenistan)