2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round

Last updated
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round
Tournament details
Dates12-17 March 2015
Teams12 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored24 (2 per match)
Attendance89,973 (7,498 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Bhutan.svg Chencho Gyeltshen
Flag of Cambodia.svg Chan Vathanaka
Flag of India.svg Sunil Chhetri
Flag of East Timor.svg Chiquito do Carmo [note 1]
(2 goals each)
← 2014
2022 →

The first round of AFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification ) was played from 12 to 23 March 2015. [1]

Contents

Format

A total of twelve teams (teams ranked 35–46 in the AFC entrant list) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.

Seeding

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. [2]

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015 (shown in parentheses below). [3] [4] The 12 teams were seeded into two pots:

Each tie contained a team from Pot A and a team from Pot B, with the team from Pot A hosting the first leg.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.

Pot APot B
  1. Flag of India.svg  India (171)
  2. Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka (172)
  3. Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen (176)
  4. Flag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia (179)
  5. Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986-2010).svg  Chinese Taipei (182)
  6. Flag of East Timor.svg  East Timor (185)
  1. Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal (186)
  2. Flag of Macau.svg  Macau (186)
  3. Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan (188)
  4. Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia (194)
  5. Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei (198)
  6. Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan (209)

Summary

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
India  Flag of India.svg2–0Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal 2–0 0–0
Yemen  Flag of Yemen.svg3–1Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 3–1 0–0
East Timor  Flag of East Timor.svg0–6 [N 1] Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia 0–3 [N 1] 0–3 [N 1]
Cambodia  Flag of Cambodia.svg4–1Flag of Macau.svg  Macau 3–0 1–1
Chinese Taipei  Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986-2010).svg2–1Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei 0–1 2–0
Sri Lanka  Flag of Sri Lanka.svg1–3Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan 0–1 1–2
Notes
  1. 1 2 3 Timor-Leste won the first leg 4–1 and the second leg 1–0, thus winning 5–1 on aggregate and advancing to the Second round. On 12 December 2017 FIFA awarded both matches 3–0 to Mongolia due to Timor-Leste fielding numerous ineligible players. However, this was long after the Second round had been played, so Timor-Leste advanced and Mongolia were not reinstated.

Matches

India  Flag of India.svg2–0Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal
  • Chhetri Soccerball shade.svg53', 70'
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati
Attendance: 11,200
Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)
Nepal    Flag of Nepal.svg0–0Flag of India.svg  India
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu
Attendance: 10,500
Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

India won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Yemen  Flag of Yemen.svg3–1Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha (Qatar) [note 2]
Attendance: 300
Referee: Mohammad Abu Loum (Jordan)
Pakistan  Flag of Pakistan.svg0–0Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town (Bahrain) [note 3]
Attendance: 2,200
Referee: Ali Sabah Adday Al-Qaysi (Iraq)

Yemen won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

East Timor  Flag of East Timor.svg0–3
Awarded [12] 		Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
National Stadium, Dili
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Sivakorn Pu-Udom (Thailand)
Mongolia  Flag of Mongolia.svg3–0
Awarded [12] 		Flag of East Timor.svg  East Timor
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
MFF Football Centre, Ulan Bator
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Wang Di (China)

Timor-Leste won the first leg 4–1 and the second leg 1–0, thus winning 5–1 on aggregate and advancing to the Second round. On 12 December 2017 FIFA awarded both matches 3–0 to Mongolia due to Timor-Leste fielding numerous ineligible players. [13] However, this was long after the Second round had been played, so Timor-Leste advanced and Mongolia were not reinstated.

Cambodia  Flag of Cambodia.svg3–0Flag of Macau.svg  Macau
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Army Stadium, Phnom Penh
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Ho Wai Sing (Hong Kong)
Macau  Flag of Macau.svg1–1Flag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Estádio Campo Desportivo, Macau
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Yaqoob Abdul Baki (Oman)

Cambodia won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Chinese Taipei  Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986-2010).svg0–1Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
National Stadium, Kaohsiung
Attendance: 6,273
Referee: Rowan Arumughan (India)
Brunei  Flag of Brunei.svg0–2Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986-2010).svg  Chinese Taipei
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

Chinese Taipei won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Sri Lanka  Flag of Sri Lanka.svg0–1Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo
Attendance: 3,500
Referee: Fu Ming (China)
Bhutan  Flag of Bhutan.svg2–1Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Marai Al-Awaji (Saudi Arabia)

Bhutan won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Goalscorers

There were 24 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.

2 goals

1 goal

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 This player scored in one of the matches between Timor-Leste and Mongolia that was subsequently forfeited, however FIFA continued to count the goalscorers from those matches in its statistics.
  2. ↑ Yemen played their home match in Qatar due to security concerns from the 2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état. [5]
  3. 1 2 Pakistan was originally scheduled to play their home match on 17 March 2015 (15:00 UTC+5) at Punjab Stadium, Lahore, [6] but it was postponed due to safety and security reasons after the Lahore church bombings and civil unrest in the city. [7] [8] The match was subsequently rescheduled to be played in Bahrain. [9] [10] [11]

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References

  1. ↑ "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "India v Nepal headlines 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers draw". AFC. 10 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Asian minnows begin World Cup mission". FIFA.com. 9 February 2015. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ "FIFA Men's Ranking – January 2015 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Green-shirts resume camp ahead of major events". The News International (Pakistan). 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "FIFA Match Report: Pakistan v Yemen". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Qualifier match between Pakistan and Yemen postponed". FIFA. 16 March 2015. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Pakistan versus Yemen qualifier postponed due to safety concerns". AFC. 17 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Pakistan 2018 FIFA World Cup tie switched from Lahore to Bahrain". IBN Live. Reuters. 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Qualifying match between Pakistan and Yemen rescheduled". FIFA.com. 19 March 2015. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Pakistan versus Yemen qualifier rescheduled". AFC. 20 March 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Federacao Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". The-AFC.com. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  13. ↑ "Latest decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee". FIFA.com. 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
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