2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

The Asian part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification is the qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It is for the national teams who are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Besides from Qatar (who qualified automatically as hosts), there a total of 4 or 5 slots (4 direct slots and 1 possible inter-confederation play-off slot) to the World Cup.

The tournament has four rounds; the first two rounds also being qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup (which is why Qatar plays in the first two rounds). The first round would have also been qualifiers for the 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup but it was cancelled.

Format
The qualification format is as follows:
First round: Twelve teams (ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
Second round: Forty 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. Originally, the eight group winners and the four best group runners-up were supposed advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification, as well as qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. However, since Qatar won their group, the fifth-best runners-up took their place in the third round.
Third round: Twelve teams that advanced 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 World Cup, and the third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
Fourth round: The two third-placed teams from the third round will play a single match. The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Entrants
All 46 FIFA associations from AFC entered qualification. The FIFA World Rankings from April 2019 was used to determine who would play in the first round. The second and third rounds used the FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw.

Because the qualification format was for both the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, both Qatar (automatically qualifying to the World Cup as hosts) and China PR (automatically qualifying to the Asian Cup as hosts) entered the second round. Qatar played for qualification to the Asian Cup, and China to the World Cup.

Timor-Leste was banned from playing in the Asian Cup qualifiers after they fielded 12 players they weren't able to play in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification. FIFA did not ban them from the World Cup qualifiers though, so Timor-Leste was allowed to enter the competition. They are not able to qualify to the Asian Cup but they can qualify to the World Cup.

+From the April 2019 FIFA World RankingsBye to the second round(Ranked 1st to 34th)Competing in first round(Ranked 35th to 46th) (21)
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Schedule
The schedule of the competition according to the FIFA International Match Calendar.

RoundMatchdayDate(s)First roundFirst leg6 June 2019Second leg11 June 2019Second roundMatchday 15 September 2019Matchday 210 September 2019Matchday 310 October 2019Matchday 415 October 2019Matchday 514 November 2019Matchday 619 November 2019Matchday 725 March, 28 May and 3 June 2021Matchday 84 December 2020, 30 March and 7 & 9 June 2021Matchday 930 March, 30 May and 11 June 2021Matchday 1013 and 15 June 2021RoundMatchdayDateThird roundMatchday 12 September 2021Matchday 27 September 2021Matchday 37 October 2021Matchday 412 October 2021Matchday 511 November 2021Matchday 616 November 2021Matchday 727 January 2022Matchday 81 February 2022Matchday 924 March 2022Matchday 1029 March 2022Fourth roundSingle legMay or June 2022Inter-confederation play-offsSingle leg13 or 14 June 2022

+ Stage Matchday DateSecond roundMatchday 726 March 2020, later 8 OctoberMatchday 831 March 2020, later 13 OctoberMatchday 94 June 2020, later 12 November, then 7 June 2021Matchday 109 June 2020, later 17 NovemberThird roundMatchday 13 September 2020Matchday 28 September 2020Matchday 313 October 2020Matchday 412 November 2020Matchday 517 November 2020Matchday 625 March 2021Matchday 730 March 2021Matchday 88 June 2021Matchday 97 September 2021Matchday 1012 October 2021Fourth roundFirst leg11 November 2021Second leg16 November 2021Inter-confederation play-offsFirst legMarch 2022Second legMarch 2022

First round

The draw for the first round was held on 17 April 2019 at 11:00 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Second round

The draw for the second round was held on 17 July 2019 at 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Summary

Group AGroup BGroup CGroup DGroup EGroup FGroup GGroup H(Third round only)(Asian Cup only)

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H
North Korea withdrew from the qualifying round because of COVID-19 concerns.

Ranking of runner-up teams
Because North Korea withdrew from Group H, games against the fifth-placed teams of each group were not counted in the ranking of the runner-up teams.

Third round

The third round consists of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group will qualify for the World Cup. The two third-placed teams proceed to the fourth round. The draw was held on 1 July 2021 in Malaysia.

Fourth round

The two third-placed teams in each group from the third round will play against each other in a single match to decide which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

The host city and venue for this match will be announced during the draw for this round.

Inter-confederation play-off

The inter-confederation play-off was determined by a draw held on 26 November 2021. The fifth-placed team from AFC was drawn against the fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL. The play-off is scheduled to be played as a single match in Qatar on 13 or 14 June 2022.

Qualified teams
The following teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.

 Team Qualified as Qualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA World Cup1       0 (debut)

Top goalscorers

Below are full goalscorer lists for each round:

First round
Second round
Third round
Fourth round

Similar pages
2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification

References

Notes

Other websites

Qualifiers – Asia, FIFA.com
FIFA World Cup, The-AFC.com

Category:2022 FIFA World Cup