| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 36 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top scorer(s) |  Karim Bagheri (19 goals) |
← 1994 2002 → | |
| AFC Asian Qualifiers |
|---|
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Asian zone (AFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.
A total of 36 teams entered the competition. The Asian zone was allocated 3.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.
There were three rounds of play:
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Saudi Arabia | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1 | +17 | 16 | Second round |
| 2 |  Malaysia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 11 | |
| 3 |  Chinese Taipei | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 4 | |
| 4 |  Bangladesh | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 3 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 3 | +36 | 16 | Second round |
| 2 |  Syria | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 5 | +25 | 10 | |
| 3 |  Kyrgyzstan | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 14 | −2 | 9 | |
| 4 |  Maldives | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 59 | −59 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United Arab Emirates | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 10 | Second round |
| 2 |  Jordan | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Bahrain | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 3 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Japan | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 1 | +30 | 16 | Second round |
| 2 |  Oman | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 13 | |
| 3 |  Macau | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 28 | −25 | 4 | |
| 4 |  Nepal | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 19 | −17 | 1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Uzbekistan | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 3 | +17 | 16 | Second round |
| 2 |  Yemen | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 8 | |
| 3 |  Indonesia | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 7 | |
| 4 |  Cambodia | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 27 | −25 | 1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  South Korea | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 10 | Second round |
| 2 |  Thailand | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Hong Kong | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 3 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kuwait | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 12 | Second round |
| 2 |  Lebanon | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Singapore | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | +11 | 16 | Second round |
| 2 |  Tajikistan | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 13 | |
| 3 |  Turkmenistan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 6 | |
| 4 |  Vietnam | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 21 | −19 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kazakhstan | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 12 | Second round |
| 2 |  Iraq | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 6 | |
| 3 |  Pakistan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 22 | −19 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Qatar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | +14 | 9 | Second round |
| 2 |  Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 |  India | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 4 | |
| 4 |  Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 14 | 1998 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 | Iran | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 12 | Third round |
| 3 | China | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 11 | |
| 4 | Qatar | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 10 | |
| 5 | Kuwait | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 8 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  South Korea | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 7 | +12 | 19 | 1998 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 |  Japan | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 13 | Third round |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 9 | |
| 4 | Uzbekistan | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 18 | −5 | 6 | |
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 6 |
| Iran | 2–3 (a.e.t.) | Japan |
|---|---|---|
Azizi  46'Daei 58' | report (FIFA) report (Japanese) | Nakayama 39' Jo 75'Okano  118' |
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iran | 3–3 (a) |  Australia | 1–1 | 2–2 |
3–3 on aggregate, Iran won on away goals
The following four teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | Final round group A winners | 12 November 1997 | 1 (1994) |
| South Korea | Final round group B winners | 18 October 1997 | 4 (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994) |
| Japan | Play-off winners | 16 November 1997 | 0 (debut) |
| Iran | AFC–OFC play-off winners | 29 November 1997 | 1 (1978) |
There were 459 goals scored in 132 matches (including 2 international play-offs), for an average of 3.53 goals per match.
Gao Feng Rocky Putiray Widodo Putro Hamid Estili Reza Shahroudi Laith Hussein Yutaka Akita Wagner Lopes Hiroshi Nanami Boulat Esmagambetov Vladimir Loginov Pavel Yevteyev Sergey Kutsov Ahmed Hassan Mahmoud Soufi Obeid Al-Dosari Fahad Al-Mehallel Kim Do-hoon Lee Sang-yoon Yoo Sang-chul Nader Joukhadar Khaled Al Zaher Shukhrat Dzhaborov Takhirdjon Mouminov 
Mouslim Agaev Zuhair Bakheet Mohammed Jewel Rana Hok Sochetra Li Bing Ma Mingyu Peng Weiguo Ansyari Lubis Ronny Wabia Mehrdad Minavand Ali Asghar Modir Roosta Sahib Abbas Qahtan Chathir Shoji Jo Hiroaki Morishima Masashi Nakayama Akinori Nishizawa Norio Omura Jeris Tadrus Alexei Klishin Nourken Mazbaev Fawaz Al Ahmad Hamed Al Saleh Farhat Haitbaev Aleksandr Merzlikin Abdulfattah Shehab Mahfood Sultan Al Araimi Saeed Shaaban Al Busaidy Majdi Shaaban Samir Mohammad Umer Zamel Al Kuwari Adel Khamis Al Noobi Fazli Choi Moon-sik Ha Seok-ju Seo Jung-won Roshan Perera Aref Al Agha Tarek Jabban Oumed Alidodov Viacheslav Knizaev Natipong Sritong-In Adnan Al Talyani Adel Mohamed Abdulla Numon Khasanov Sergey Lebedev Shukhrat Maksudov Abdukahhor Marifaliev Nikolai Shirshov Khaled Al-Doseri Hameed Darwish Faisal Aziz Rashed Mohammed Alfaz Ahmed Ahmed Imtiaz Li Jinyu Li Ming Mao Yijun Su Maozhen Zhang Enhua 
Chen Kuei-jen Hsu Te Ming Huang Che-ming Lin Wen Han Au Wai Lun Cheng Sin Siu Lee Kin Woo Carlton Chapman Bruno Coutinho Raman Vijayan Sudirman Farhad Majidi Ali Mousavi Haidar Abdullah Ahmed Radhi Sadiq Saadoun Yasuto Honda Masami Ihara Masayuki Okano Naoki Soma Motohiro Yamaguchi Basam Al-Khateeb Hassouneh Al-Sheikh Ruslan Baltiyev Vitali Sparyshev Valeri Yablochkin Dmitri Yurist Faisal Al Otaibi Hani Al Saqer Jamal Mubarak Abdullah Saihan Vladimir Chertkov Sergei Ivanov Alexandr Korzanov Kanat Sardarov Rafik Yusupov Babkin Melikian Wael Nazha 
Che Chi Man Cheang Chon Man José Maria da Cruz Martins Idris Abdul Karim Azman Adnan Ahmad Che Zambil Rosdee Sulong Zainal Abidin Hassan Deepak Amatya Hari Khadka Mohamed Tayib Abdul Noor Farid Al Masori Nabeel Mubar Al Siyabi Zahir Rafiq Dahi Al Naemi Abdul Jaloof Nasir Khamees Waleed Bakhit Maayof Abdulaziz Al-Dosari Abdullah Al-Dosari Sami Al-Jaber Khalid Al-Temawi Yousuf Al-Thunayan Khamis Al-Zahrani Chuan Tan Teng Zulkarnaen Zainal Ko Jeong-woon Lee Min-sung Park Kun-ha Roh Sang-rae Anton Silva Chaminda Steinwall Redwan Abrash Ali Cheikh Dib Abdel Kader Rifai Ammar Rihawi Bashar Srour Loay Taleb Alier Achourmamadov Dusit Chalermsan Krissada Piandit Piyapong Pue-on Redjeb Agabaev Valeri Broshin Valeri Gulyan Djumadurdy Meredov Georgi Tkavadze Bakhit Alabadla Gholam Ali Hassan Mubarak Mohamed Obaid Ahmed Saeed Jafar Irismetov Bahtior Kambaraliev Mirdjalal Kasimov Lê Huỳnh Đức Nguyễn Công Vinh Abdul Rahman Abdulla Jeyeb Bashafal Esam Dariban Munif Shaef Noman Mohammed Zughair Sadiq Saadoun (playing against Kazakhstan) Raju Kaji Shakya (playing against Oman)