| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 25 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top scorer(s) | |
| Best player(s) | |
← 1986 1994 → | |
| AFC Asian Qualifiers |
|---|
The Asian Football Confederation was allocated two assured qualifying berths for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. 26 teams were in the running for these spots; Bahrain, India, Maldives and South Yemen withdrew without playing a qualifying match.
Asia's two automatic qualifying berths were taken by Korea Republic and the United Arab Emirates.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | QAT | IRQ | JOR | OMA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 9 | — | 1 – 0 | 1 – 0 | 3 – 0 | ||
| 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 8 | 2 – 2 | — | 4 – 0 | 3 – 1 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 5 | 1 – 1 | 0 – 1 | — | 2 – 0 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 2 | 0 – 0 | 1 – 1 | 0 – 2 | — |
Qatar advanced to the final round.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | KSA | SYR | NYE | BHR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 7 | — | 5 – 4 | 1 – 0 | X – X | ||
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 5 | 0 – 0 | — | 2 – 0 | X – X | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | 0 – 1 | 0 – 1 | — | X – X | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X – X | X – X | X – X | — |
Saudi Arabia advanced to the final round.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | UAE | KUW | PAK | SYE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 6 | — | 1 – 0 | 5 – 0 | X – X | ||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | 3 – 2 | — | 2 – 0 | X – X | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | −11 | 0 | 1 – 4 | 0 – 1 | — | X – X | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X – X | X – X | X – X | — |
United Arab Emirates advanced to the final round.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | KOR | MAS | SIN | NEP | IND | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | +25 | 12 | — | 3 – 0 | 3 – 0 | 9 – 0 | X – X | ||
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 – 3 | — | 1 – 0 | 3 – 0 | X – X | ||
| 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 5 | 0 – 3 | 2 – 2 | — | 7 – 0 | X – X | ||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | −28 | 0 | 0 – 4 | 0 – 2 | 0 – 3 | — | X – X | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X – X | X – X | X – X | X – X | — |
Korea Republic advanced to the final round.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | CHN | IRN | BAN | THA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 10 | — | 2 – 0 | 2 – 0 | 2 – 0 | ||
| 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 10 | 3 – 2 | — | 1 – 0 | 3 – 0 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 2 | 0 – 2 | 1 – 2 | — | 3 – 1 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 14 | −12 | 2 | 0 – 3 | 0 – 3 | 1 – 0 | — |
China advanced to the final round.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PRK | JPN | IDN | HKG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 9 | — | 2 – 0 | 2 – 1 | 4 – 1 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 | 2 – 1 | — | 5 – 0 | 0 – 0 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 5 | 0 – 0 | 0 – 0 | — | 3 – 2 | ||
| 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 3 | 1 – 2 | 0 – 0 | 1 – 1 | — |
Korea DPR advanced to the final round.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 8 | |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | |
| 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 5 | |
| | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 |
| 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 |
Korea Republic and the United Arab Emirates qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
| United Arab Emirates | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| China | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Mai Chao | (Report) | Al-Bishi |
| South Korea | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Qatar | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Muftah | (Report) | Al-Suwaiti |
| South Korea | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hwang Sun-hong |
| United Arab Emirates | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| K. Mubarak Al Talyani | Tang Yaodong |
| South Korea | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Kim Joo-sung |
| North Korea | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Kim Pung-Il Ghu Gyong-Sik |
| Saudi Arabia | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| United Arab Emirates | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| K. Mubarak | Sulaiti |
| China | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Xie Yuxin |
| South Korea | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hwangbo Kwan Hwang Sun-hong | (Report) |
| Qatar | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Soufi Muftah | Ma Lin |
| United Arab Emirates | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Al Talyani | Hwangbo Kwan |
| Saudi Arabia | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Musaibeah Al-Suwaiti | (Report) |
The following two teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final round winners | 25 October 1989 | 2 (1954, 1986) | |
| Final round runners-up | 28 October 1989 | 0 (debut) |