2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification

The 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification was the qualification process organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine the participating teams for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the 17th edition of the international men's football championship of Asia. For the first time, the Asian Cup final tournament was contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format that was used from 2004 to 2015.

The qualification process involved four rounds, where the first two doubled as the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification for Asian teams.

Format
The qualification structure was as follows:
 * First round: A total of twelve teams (teams ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
 * Second round: A total of forty teams (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 including host UAE qualified for the AFC Asian Cup finals and advance to the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
 * The next sixteen highest ranked teams (the remaining four group runners-up, the eight third-placed teams and the four best group fourth-placed teams) advanced directly to the third round of Asian Cup qualification.
 * The remaining twelve teams entered the play-off round to contest the remaining eight spots in the third round of Asian Cup qualification.
 * Play-off round: At a Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that a play-off round of qualifying would be introduced into the qualification procedure. There were two rounds of home-and-away two-legged play-off matches to determine the final eight qualifiers for the third round.
 * Third round: The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four to play home-and-away round-robin matches, and they competed for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

The play-off round represented a change from the initially announced qualification format – which saw the remaining fourth-placed teams and the four best group fifth-placed teams also advance to the third round.

Entrants
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).

Due to the joint format of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, the hosts of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the United Arab Emirates also entered the second round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers despite having qualified automatically.

Northern Mariana Islands, which is not a FIFA member, were not eligible to enter.

Schedule
The schedule of the qualification competition was as follows.

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.

The six teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.

Second round
The draw for the second round was held on 14 April 2015, 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Group F
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.

Ranking of runner-up teams
To determine the four best runner-up teams, the following criteria are used:
 * 1) Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
 * 2) Goal difference
 * 3) Goals scored
 * 4) Fair play points
 * 5) 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.

Ranking of fourth-placed teams
To determine the four best fourth-placed teams, the following criteria were used:
 * 1) Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
 * 2) Goal difference
 * 3) Goals scored
 * 4) Fair play points
 * 5) 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 are not counted when determining the ranking of the fourth-placed teams.

Play-off round
At an AFC Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that two rounds of play-off matches would be introduced into the qualification procedure to determine the final eight teams for the main qualifying round.

A total of eight slots for the third round were available from this round (five from round 1, three from round 2). The three teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.

The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 April 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Round 1
The lowest seeded team, Bhutan, received a bye, and the remaining ten teams were drawn into five pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.

Round 2
The five losers from round 1 joined Bhutan in this round. The six teams were drawn into three pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.

Third round
A total of 24 teams competed in the third round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Since the 2019 hosts United Arab Emirates advanced to the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the automatic slot for the hosts was no longer necessary, and a total of 12 slots for the AFC Asian Cup were available from this round.

Due to the withdrawal of Guam and the suspension of Kuwait, the AFC decided to invite both Nepal and Macau, the top two teams of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, to re-enter 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification as replacements in order to maintain 24 teams in the third round of the competition.

The draw for the third round was held on 23 January 2017, 16:00 GST, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four.

Qualified teams


The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.

Notes:
 * 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
 * 2 As South Vietnam

Goalscorers

 * 14 goals


 * Mohammad Al-Sahlawi


 * 11 goals


 * Ahmed Khalil


 * 10 goals


 * 🇯🇴 Hamza Al-Dardour
 * 🇰🇬 Anton Zemlianukhin


 * 9 goals


 * 🇹🇯 Manuchekhr Dzhalilov


 * 8 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Tim Cahill
 * 🇨🇳 Yang Xu
 * 🇮🇳 Sunil Chhetri
 * Khalid Al-Hajri
 * Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali


 * 7 goals


 * Chencho Gyeltshen
 * 🇮🇳 Jeje Lalpekhlua
 * 🇮🇷 Sardar Azmoun
 * Hassan Maatouk
 * 🇲🇻 Ali Ashfaq
 * Jonathan Cantillana
 * Sameh Maraaba
 * 🇸🇾 Omar Khribin


 * 6 goals


 * 🇨🇳 Yu Dabao
 * 🇯🇵 Keisuke Honda
 * 🇲🇻 Naiz Hassan
 * 🇰🇵 Kim Yu-song
 * 🇰🇷 Son Heung-min


 * 5 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Tom Rogic
 * Chen Po-liang
 * 🇮🇷 Mehdi Taremi
 * 🇯🇵 Shinji Kagawa
 * 🇯🇴 Hassan Abdel-Fattah
 * Kyaw Ko Ko
 * 🇰🇵 Jong Il-gwan
 * 🇰🇵 Pak Kwang-ryong
 * Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri
 * Phil Younghusband
 * Abdelatif Bahdari
 * Ahmad Abu Nahyeh
 * 🇶🇦 Hassan Al-Haidos
 * Taisir Al-Jassim
 * Ali Mabkhout
 * 🇺🇿 Sardor Rashidov
 * 🇾🇪 Abdulwasea Al-Matari


 * 4 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Mile Jedinak
 * 🇧🇭 Mahdi Abduljabbar
 * Wu Chun-ching
 * 🇮🇶 Younis Mahmoud
 * 🇯🇵 Shinji Okazaki
 * 🇯🇴 Munther Abu Amarah
 * 🇯🇴 Abdallah Deeb
 * Bader Al-Mutawa
 * Yousef Nasser
 * 🇰🇬 Vitalij Lux
 * Yashir Pinto
 * Tamer Seyam
 * Javier Patiño
 * 🇶🇦 Boualem Khoukhi
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Muntari
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Musa
 * 🇸🇾 Osama Omari
 * 🇹🇯 Akhtam Nazarov
 * 🇹🇯 Parvizdzhon Umarbayev
 * 🇺🇿 Igor Sergeev


 * 3 goals


 * 🇦🇫 Khaibar Amani
 * 🇦🇺 Nathan Burns
 * 🇧🇭 Ismail Abdullatif
 * 🇧🇭 Abdulla Yusuf Helal
 * Tshering Dorji
 * Chan Vathanaka
 * 🇨🇳 Jiang Ning
 * 🇭🇰 Jaimes McKee
 * 🇯🇵 Maya Yoshida
 * 🇯🇴 Yaseen Al-Bakhit
 * 🇯🇴 Odai Al-Saify
 * 🇱🇦 Khampheng Sayavutthi
 * Rabih Ataya
 * Hilal El-Helwe
 * Ahmad Hazwan Bakri
 * 🇲🇻 Ali Fasir
 * Aung Thu
 * 🇰🇵 Ri Hyok-chol
 * Misagh Bahadoran
 * Iain Ramsay
 * 🇶🇦 Ali Assadalla
 * Yahya Al-Shehri
 * Safuwan Baharudin
 * Fazrul Nawaz
 * 🇰🇷 Kwon Chang-hoon
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Jae-sung
 * 🇸🇾 Sanharib Malki
 * 🇸🇾 Mahmoud Maowas
 * 🇹🇭 Teerasil Dangda
 * 🇹🇲 Arslanmyrat Amanow
 * 🇹🇲 Altymyrat Annadurdyýew
 * Omar Abdulrahman
 * 🇺🇿 Odil Ahmedov
 * Lê Công Vinh
 * Nguyễn Văn Toàn


 * 2 goals


 * 🇦🇫 Norlla Amiri
 * 🇦🇫 Jabar Sharza
 * 🇦🇫 Mustafa Zazai
 * 🇦🇺 Massimo Luongo
 * 🇦🇺 Mark Milligan
 * 🇦🇺 Aaron Mooy
 * 🇧🇭 Abdulwahab Al-Malood
 * 🇧🇭 Mohamed Al Romaihi
 * 🇧🇭 Sayed Mohamed Adnan
 * 🇧🇭 Abdulla Yaser
 * Khoun Laboravy
 * Prak Mony Udom
 * 🇨🇳 Wang Yongpo
 * 🇨🇳 Wu Lei
 * 🇨🇳 Yu Hanchao
 * Chu En-le
 * 🇭🇰 Godfred Karikari
 * 🇭🇰 Lam Ka Wai
 * 🇮🇳 Sandesh Jhingan
 * 🇮🇳 Balwant Singh
 * 🇮🇷 Ashkan Dejagah
 * 🇮🇷 Ehsan Hajsafi
 * 🇮🇶 Ali Adnan
 * 🇮🇶 Justin Meram
 * 🇯🇵 Mu Kanazaki
 * 🇯🇴 Ahmed Samir
 * 🇰🇬 Mirlan Murzaev
 * 🇱🇦 Khonesavanh Sihavong
 * Hassan Chaito
 * Mohammed Ghaddar
 * Ali Hamam
 * 🇲🇴 Niki Torrão
 * Mohd Amri Yahyah
 * Safawi Rasid
 * 🇲🇻 Ahmed Nashid
 * Sithu Aung
 * Sami Al-Hasani
 * Amad Al-Hosni
 * Mohsin Al-Khaldi
 * Raed Ibrahim Saleh
 * Jaka Ihbeisheh
 * Ahmad Maher Wridat
 * Mahmoud Yousef
 * 🇶🇦 Karim Boudiaf
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Kasola
 * Fahad Al-Muwallad
 * Khairul Amri
 * 🇰🇷 Jang Hyun-soo
 * 🇰🇷 Ki Sung-yueng
 * 🇰🇷 Koo Ja-cheol
 * 🇰🇷 Suk Hyun-jun
 * 🇸🇾 Abdelrazaq Al Hussain
 * 🇸🇾 Raja Rafe
 * 🇹🇯 Jahongir Ergashev
 * 🇹🇯 Dilshod Vasiev
 * 🇹🇭 Pokklaw Anan
 * 🇹🇭 Theerathon Bunmathan
 * 🇹🇭 Adisak Kraisorn
 * 🇹🇭 Mongkol Tossakrai
 * Chiquito do Carmo
 * Ramon Saro
 * 🇹🇲 Guwanç Abylow
 * 🇹🇲 Ruslan Mingazow
 * 🇹🇲 Wahyt Orazsähedow
 * 🇹🇲 Myrat Ýagşyýew
 * 🇺🇿 Alexander Geynrikh
 * 🇺🇿 Anzur Ismailov
 * Nguyễn Anh Đức
 * Nguyễn Văn Quyết
 * 🇾🇪 Ahmed Al-Sarori
 * 🇾🇪 Ala Al-Sasi


 * 1 goal


 * 🇦🇫 Hassan Amin
 * 🇦🇫 Zohib Islam Amiri
 * 🇦🇫 Zubayr Amiri
 * 🇦🇫 Faysal Shayesteh
 * 🇦🇫 Josef Shirdel
 * 🇦🇺 Mathew Leckie
 * 🇦🇺 Tommy Oar
 * 🇧🇭 Komail Al-Aswad
 * 🇧🇭 Sami Al-Husaini
 * 🇧🇭 Hussain Ali Baba
 * 🇧🇭 Sayed Reda Issa
 * 🇧🇭 Ali Jaafar Mohamed Madan
 * 🇧🇭 Abdullah Omar
 * 🇧🇭 Jamal Rashid
 * Jahid Hasan Ameli
 * Mamunul Islam
 * Biren Basnet
 * Jigme Dorji
 * Karma Shedrup Tshering
 * Adi Said
 * Thierry Bin
 * Chhin Chhoeun
 * Hong Pheng
 * Keo Sokpheng
 * Sos Suhana
 * 🇨🇳 Huang Bowen
 * 🇨🇳 Mei Fang
 * 🇨🇳 Zhang Linpeng
 * 🇨🇳 Zhang Xizhe
 * Chen Chao-an
 * Xavier Chen
 * Chen Hao-wei
 * Chen Yi-wei
 * Huang Wei-min
 * Hung Kai-chun
 * Wang Rui
 * Wen Chih-hao
 * Yaki Yen
 * 🇬🇺 Brandon McDonald
 * 🇬🇺 Travis Nicklaw
 * 🇭🇰 Christian Annan
 * 🇭🇰 Bai He
 * 🇭🇰 Chan Siu Ki
 * 🇭🇰 Ju Yingzhi
 * 🇭🇰 Lo Kwan Yee
 * 🇭🇰 Paulinho
 * 🇭🇰 Sandro
 * 🇭🇰 Tan Chun Lok
 * 🇭🇰 Jordi Tarrés
 * 🇭🇰 Xu Deshuai
 * 🇮🇳 Fulganco Cardozo
 * 🇮🇳 Sumit Passi
 * 🇮🇳 Mohammed Rafique
 * 🇮🇳 Robin Singh
 * 🇮🇳 Rowllin Borges
 * 🇮🇷 Karim Ansarifard
 * 🇮🇷 Saeid Ezatolahi
 * 🇮🇷 Jalal Hosseini
 * 🇮🇷 Alireza Jahanbakhsh
 * 🇮🇷 Kamal Kamyabinia
 * 🇮🇷 Morteza Pouraliganji
 * 🇮🇷 Ramin Rezaeian
 * 🇮🇷 Masoud Shojaei
 * 🇮🇷 Andranik Teymourian
 * 🇮🇷 Mehdi Torabi
 * 🇮🇶 Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
 * 🇮🇶 Ali Hosni
 * 🇮🇶 Dhurgham Ismail
 * 🇮🇶 Mahdi Kamel
 * 🇮🇶 Ahmed Yasin
 * 🇯🇵 Genki Haraguchi
 * 🇯🇵 Hiroshi Kiyotake
 * 🇯🇵 Masato Morishige
 * 🇯🇵 Takashi Usami
 * 🇯🇴 Yousef Al-Naber
 * 🇯🇴 Yousef Al-Rawashdeh
 * 🇯🇴 Mohannad Al-Souliman
 * 🇯🇴 Musa Al-Taamari
 * 🇯🇴 Baha' Faisal
 * 🇯🇴 Saeed Murjan
 * Ali Maqseed
 * Aziz Mashaan
 * Faisal Zayid
 * 🇰🇬 Ildar Amirov
 * 🇰🇬 Azamat Baymatov
 * 🇰🇬 Edgar Bernhardt
 * 🇰🇬 Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov
 * 🇰🇬 Viktor Maier
 * 🇰🇬 Almazbek Mirzaliev
 * 🇰🇬 Bekzhan Sagynbaev
 * 🇰🇬 Islam Shamshiev
 * Roda Antar
 * Abbas Ahmed Atwi
 * Samir Ayass
 * Nour Mansour
 * Youssef Mohamad
 * Joan Oumari
 * Feiz Shamsin
 * 🇲🇴 Chan Pak Chun
 * 🇲🇴 Carlos Leonel
 * 🇲🇴 Leong Ka Hang
 * Baddrol Bakhtiar
 * Chanturu Suppiah
 * Khair Jones
 * Mahali Jasuli
 * Mohd Safiq Rahim
 * Safee Sali
 * Syafiq Ahmad
 * Syazwan Zainon
 * 🇲🇻 Ahmed Abdulla
 * 🇲🇻 Asadhulla Abdulla
 * 🇲🇻 Ibrahim Waheed Hassan
 * 🇲🇻 Hamza Mohamed
 * 🇲🇻 Hussain Niyaz Mohamed
 * 🇲🇻 Hussain Sifaau Yoosuf
 * Batmönkhiin Erkhembayar
 * Kyaw Zayar Win
 * Kyi Lin
 * Min Min Thu
 * Suan Lam Mang
 * Yan Naing Oo
 * Zaw Min Tun
 * Bimal Gharti Magar
 * Bishal Rai
 * Nawayug Shrestha
 * 🇰🇵 Jang Kuk-chol
 * 🇰🇵 Kim Yong-il
 * 🇰🇵 Ri Yong-jik
 * 🇰🇵 Ro Hak-su
 * 🇰🇵 So Hyon-uk
 * 🇰🇵 So Kyong-jin
 * Mohammed Al-Ghassani
 * Saad Al-Mukhaini
 * Said Al-Ruzaiqi
 * Jameel Al-Yahmadi
 * Salaah Al-Yahyaei
 * Nadir Mabrook
 * Qasim Said
 * 🇵🇰 Hassan Bashir
 * Mus'ab Al-Batat
 * Ahmed Awad
 * Abdullah Jaber
 * Matías Jadue
 * Mohammad Natour
 * Khaled Salem
 * Pablo Tamburrini
 * Khader Yousef
 * Kevin Ingreso
 * Manuel Ott
 * Mike Ott
 * Daisuke Sato
 * Stephan Schröck
 * James Younghusband
 * 🇶🇦 Ahmed Abdul Maqsoud
 * 🇶🇦 Akram Afif
 * 🇶🇦 Abdelkarim Hassan
 * 🇶🇦 Ismaeel Mohammad
 * 🇶🇦 Sebastián Soria
 * Salman Al-Faraj
 * Osama Hawsawi
 * Naif Hazazi
 * Irfan Fandi
 * Hariss Harun
 * Faris Ramli
 * Shakir Hamzah
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Chung-yong
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Jeong-hyeop
 * 🇰🇷 Nam Tae-hee
 * Subash Madushan
 * 🇸🇾 Moayad Ajan
 * 🇸🇾 Oday Al-Jafal
 * 🇸🇾 Ahmad Kallasi
 * 🇸🇾 Omar Midani
 * 🇹🇯 Nuriddin Davronov
 * 🇹🇯 Davron Ergashev
 * 🇹🇯 Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev
 * 🇹🇯 Umedzhon Sharipov
 * 🇹🇭 Tana Chanabut
 * 🇹🇭 Kroekrit Thaweekarn
 * Patrick Fabiano
 * Rufino Gama
 * Jairo Neto
 * José Oliveira
 * Rodrigo Silva
 * 🇹🇲 Serdaraly Ataýew
 * 🇹🇲 Artur Geworkýan
 * 🇹🇲 Süleýman Muhadow
 * 🇹🇲 Mekan Saparow
 * Mohamed Ahmed
 * Ismail Al Hammadi
 * Ahmed Al Hashmi
 * Habib Fardan
 * Abdullah Mousa
 * Mohanad Salem
 * 🇺🇿 Stanislav Andreev
 * 🇺🇿 Server Djeparov
 * 🇺🇿 Azizbek Haydarov
 * 🇺🇿 Eldor Shomurodov
 * Đinh Thanh Trung
 * Đinh Tiến Thành
 * Mạc Hồng Quân
 * Nguyễn Công Phượng
 * Nguyễn Quang Hải
 * Trần Phi Sơn
 * 🇾🇪 Ayman Al-Hagri
 * 🇾🇪 Mudir Al-Radaei
 * 🇾🇪 Akram Al-Worafi
 * 🇾🇪 Mohammed Boqshan
 * 🇾🇪 Tawfiq Ali Mansour


 * 1 own goal


 * 🇦🇫 Sharif Mukhammad (playing against Japan)
 * Biren Basnet (playing against Oman)
 * Khoun Laboravy (playing against Japan)
 * Leng Makara (playing against Syria)
 * Chen Chia-chun (playing against Turkmenistan)
 * 🇯🇴 Mohannad Al-Souliman (playing against Afghanistan)
 * 🇰🇬 Ildar Amirov (playing against Australia)
 * 🇰🇬 Valery Kichin (playing against Bangladesh)
 * Ali Hamam (playing against South Korea)
 * 🇲🇴 Lam Ka Seng (playing against India)
 * 🇲🇻 Amdhan Ali (playing against Oman)
 * 🇲🇻 Mohamed Faisal (playing against Palestine)
 * 🇲🇻 Ali Samooh (playing against Yemen)
 * Zaw Min Tun (playing against Kuwait)
 * 🇸🇾 Hamdi Al Masri (playing against Japan)
 * 🇹🇯 Davron Ergashev (playing against Yemen)
 * 🇹🇲 Serdar Annaorazow (playing against Guam)
 * 🇹🇲 Mekan Saparow (playing against Oman)
 * Đinh Tiến Thành (playing against Thailand)


 * Source: