2010 Football / Soccer World Cup - South Africa information dedicated to England and all football fans worldwide
The Asian road to the World Cup 2010 South Africa
The Asian Football Confederation has been given 4.5 places in the final stages of the 2010 World Cup. 43 nations will battle it out for those places. Laos, Brunei and the Phillipines have turned down the opportunity to qualify.
Australia will compete in the AFC for the first time following their move from Oceania in 2006. Australia have already competed in the 2007 Asian Cup.
The 43 nations competing from Asia have been seeded according to their performance in the 2006 World Cup. The seedings are as follows:
1. Australia 2. South Korea 3. Saudi Arabia 4. Japan 5. IR. Iran**** 6. Bahrain 7. Uzbekistan 8. Kuwait 9. North Korea 10. China 11. Jordan 12. Iraq 13. Lebanon 14. Oman 15. UAE 16. Qatar 17. Syria 18. Palestine 19. Thailand 20. Turkmenistan 21. Tajikistan 22. Indonesia 23. Hong Kong 24. Yemen 25. Vietnam 26. Kyrgyzstan 27. Maldives 28. India 29. Singapore 30. Sri Lanka 31. Malaysia 32. Chinese Taipei 33. Bangladesh 34. Macau 35. Pakistan 36. Afghanistan 37. Mongolia 38. Guam 39. Nepal 40. Cambodia 41. Bhutan 42. Myanmar 43. Timor-Leste
**** The seedings of the top five nations have been changed. Australia maintain their position as do South Korea. Iran have been moved up to 3rd while Saudi Arabia and Japan will be joint 4th seeds.
Asian World Cup qualifying will be a four round process plus a play-off for the 5th best Asian qualifier. The 5th best Asian qualifier plays the winner of Oceania qualifying for a place in the finals.
The draw for the Asian World Cup 2010 qualifying first round was made on August 6th 2007 at the AFC house in Bukit Jalil Malaysia. The top 5 seeds were given a bye to the third round. The first round consists of a 2-leg knockout tournament. The first legs are played on 8th October 2007 unless otherwise stated. The second leg matches will be played on 28th October unless otherwise stated. All dates given may be subject to change.
Asia 2010 World Cup Qualifying Round 1
|
Team 1 |
Aggregate Result |
Team 2 |
1st leg |
2nd leg |
| Vietnam | 0-6 | United Arab Emirates | 0-1 | 0-5 |
| Oman | 4-0 | Nepal | 2-0 | 2-0 |
| Palestine | 0-7 | Singapore | 0-4 | Singapore awarded 3-0 win after Palestine failed to show |
| Lebanon | 6-3 | India | 4-1 | 30/10 2-2 |
| Syria | 5-1 | Afghanistan | 3-0 | 26/10 2-1 |
| Yemen | 3-2 | Maldives | 3-0 | 0-2 |
| Bangladesh | 1-6 | Tajikistan | 1-1 | 0-5 |
| Thailand | 13-2 | Macau | 6-1 | 7-1 |
| Bhutan (WITHDREW) | Kuwait | Kuwait gain a bye to round 3 | ||
| Sri Lanka | 0-6 | Qatar | 21/10 0-1 | 0-5 |
| Pakistan | 0-7 | Iraq | 22/10 0-7 | 0-0 |
| Uzbekistan | 11-0 | Chinese Taipei | 13/10 9-0 | 2-0 |
| China | 11-0 | Myanmar | 21/10 7-0 | 4-0 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2-2 Jordan win 6-5 on penalties | Jordan | 18/10 2-0 | 0-2 a.e.t |
| Bahrain | 4-1 | Malaysia | 21/10 4-1 | 0-0 |
| Timor-Leste | 3-11 | Hong Kong | 21/10 2-3 | 1-8 |
| Mongolia | 2-9 | North Korea | 21/10 1-4 | 1-5 |
| Cambodia | 1-5 | Turkmenistan | 11/10 0-1 | 1-4 |
| Guam(WITHDREW) | Indonesia | Indonesia advance | ||
Of the 19 winners in the first round, the 8 lowest seeded teams must play in the second round. The remaining 11 higher seeds go straight into the third round.
Asia 2010 World Cup Qualifying Round 2
Second round matches are tentatively scheduled for the 9th and 18th November 2007.
|
Team 1 |
Aggregate Result |
Team 2 |
1st leg |
2nd leg |
| Hong Kong | 0-3 | Turkmenistan | 10/11 0-0 | 0-3 |
| Indonesia | 1-11 | Syria | 1-4 | 0-7 |
| Singapore | 3-1 | Tajikistan | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| Yemen | 1-2 | Thailand | 1-1 | 0-1 |
Asia 2010 World Cup Qualifying Round 3
The top 5 seeds join the 11 winners from round 1 and the 4 winners from round 2 in the third round. The 20 qualifiers for the third round will be drawn into 5 groups of 4 teams. In the group stage the teams in each group play each other home and away. The top 2 from each group qualify for the fourth round.
| Group 1 Table/fixtures/results | Group 2 Table/fixtures/results | Group 3 Table/fixtures/results | Group 4 Table/fixtures/results |
| Australia | Japan | South Korea | Saudi Arabia |
| China | Bahrain | North Korea | Uzbekistan |
| Iraq | Oman | Jordan | Lebanon |
| Qatar | Thailand | Turkmenistan | Singapore |
| Group 5 Table/fixtures/results |
| Iran |
| Kuwait |
| UAE |
| Syria |
Asia 2010 World Cup Qualifying Round 4
The 10 teams making it through the third round will be split into 2 groups of 5 teams. The teams from each group will play each other home and away with the top 2 from each group qualifying for the 2010 World Cup final stages.
Asia 2010 World Cup Qualifying play-offs
The teams finishing 3rd from each group in the fourth qualifying round play each other home and away to determine overall 5th place in Asian World Cup qualifying. The winner from this play-off will play the winner of Oceania World Cup qualifying for a berth in the 2010 World Cup finals.