2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round

This page provides the summaries of the AFC third round matches for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Format
In this round the fifteen winners from the second round joined the five AFC sides seeded 1–5 in the AFC World Cup rankings (Japan, South Korea, Australia, North Korea, Bahrain). The teams were drawn into five groups of four teams, at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011.

The matches were played from 2 September 2011 to 29 February 2012. The top two teams in each group advanced to the fourth round.

Seeding
The 20 teams were divided into four pots for the draw, each containing five teams. The July 2011 FIFA Ranking – released on 27 July – was used to seed the teams.

Note: Syria was replaced by Tajikistan in the third round on 19 August 2011 following the awarding of both second round matches to Tajikistan.