2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round

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2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round
Event AFC Asian Qualifiers
Date7 June 2022
Venue Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar
Referee Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan) [1]
Attendance6,500

The fourth round of AFC matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification consisted of a single match that determined the AFC representative in the intercontinental play-offs against the CONMEBOL representative. [2] This round was originally scheduled as a two-legged tie for 11 and 16 November 2021, [3] [4] but the dates and format were changed in November 2020 in response to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia. [5]

Contents

The match featured the United Arab Emirates and Australia. It was played at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on 7 June 2022. [6]

Background

Since the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification the last round of the Asian qualifiers (in this case, the fourth round) has consisted of a matchup between two teams coming from a previous round, and the winning team would represent AFC in the intercontinental play-offs (except the 1998 campaign, in which the play-off winners qualified directly for the FIFA World Cup, while the losers advanced to the intercontinental play-offs).

The United Arab Emirates had previously played once at this stage, they faced Iran in the 2002 play-off and lost 0–4 on aggregate. Australia had also previously played at this stage once, it was the 2018 edition where they defeated Syria 3–2 on aggregate. [7]

This was the third match between the United Arab Emirates and Australia in the Asian World Cup qualifying, with the previous two being Australian victories (both in the 2018 qualifiers). [8]

Format

In the fourth round, the two third-placed teams from the third round competed in a single-match play-off. Since the fourth round format was changed from two-legged tie to a single-match at a neutral venue, the game was played under the single-leg play-off rules from the preliminary competition, with extra time of two periods of 15 minutes would be played if the match was tied after the regular time of 90 minutes, followed by a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner if the match still tied after extra time (Regulations Article 20.11). [9]

The winner advanced to the intercontinental play-offs six days later, also in Qatar. [10]

Qualified teams

Group
(Third round)
Third place
A Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates
B Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia

The United Arab Emirates qualified for the fourth round after finishing third of Group A in the third round. Previously, they had won their group in the second round, winning six and losing two of their eight matches, leaving Vietnam (by only 1 point), Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia behind. In the third round, the UAE were part of Group A, alongside Iran, South Korea, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They finished third with 12 points and a record of 3 wins, 4 losses and 3 draws, behind Iran and South Korea who qualified directly for the final tournament. [11]

Australia also qualified by finishing third in the third round (Group B). Previously, they had won their group in the second round, winning all eight of their matches and taking a 10-point lead over Kuwait and Jordan in second and third place respectively, with Nepal and Chinese Taipei far behind. In the third round, Australia were part of Group B, alongside Saudi Arabia, Japan, Oman, China PR and Vietnam. They finished third with 15 points and a record of 4 wins, 5 losses and 3 draws, behind Saudi Arabia and Japan who qualified directly for the final tournament. [11]

The United Arab Emirates started the qualification process with Dutchman Bert van Marwijk. However, he was sacked on 12 February 2022 after the team ran out of direct qualification options as Iran and South Korea had secured the first two places of Group A in the third round. [12] [13] Argentine Rodolfo Arruabarrena was announced as the UAE's new coach one day later, [14] while Australia kept Graham Arnold as their coach throughout the process. [11]

Match

Team 1 Score Team 2
United Arab Emirates  Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg1–2Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
United Arab Emirates  Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg1–2Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Caio Soccerball shade.svg57' Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Ahmad bin Ali Stadium , Al Rayyan (Qatar)
Attendance: 6,500
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
Kit left arm uae19h.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body uae19h.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm uae19h.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts adidasred.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks uae19h.png
Kit socks long.svg
United Arab Emirates
Kit left arm aus20h.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body aus20h.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm aus20h.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts aus20h.png
Kit shorts.svg
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Kit socks long.svg
Australia
GK17 Khalid Eisa
CB12 Khalifa Al Hammadi
CB13 Mohammed Al-Attas
CB3 Walid Abbas (c)
DM14 Abdulla Hamad Sub off.svg 89'
RM4 Khaled Ibrahim
CM18 Abdullah Ramadan Sub off.svg 75'
CM5 Ali Salmeen Sub off.svg 88'
LM21 Harib Al-Maazmi
CF11 Caio Canedo Sub off.svg 89'
CF7 Ali Mabkhout Yellow card.svg 34'Sub off.svg 75'
Substitutions:
MF15 Yahia Nader Sub on.svg 75'
FW16 Ali Saleh Sub on.svg 75'
MF8 Majed Hassan Sub on.svg 88'
MF10 Omar Abdulrahman Sub on.svg 89'
FW20 Sebastián Tagliabúe Sub on.svg 89'
Manager:
Flag of Argentina.svg Rodolfo Arruabarrena
GK1 Mathew Ryan (c)
RB4 Nathaniel Atkinson
CB8 Bailey Wright
CB20 Kye Rowles
LB16 Aziz Behich
RM6 Martin Boyle
CM13 Aaron Mooy
CM22 Jackson Irvine
LM19 Craig Goodwin Sub off.svg 72'
CF10 Ajdin Hrustic Yellow card.svg 55'Sub off.svg 90+1'
CF7 Mathew Leckie Sub off.svg 90+1'
Substitutions:
FW9 Jamie Maclaren Sub on.svg 72'
DF2 Miloš Degenek Sub on.svg 90+1'
FW11 Awer Mabil Sub on.svg 90+1'
Manager:
Graham Arnold

Assistant referees: [1]
Andrey Tsapenko (Uzbekistan)
Timur Gaynullin (Uzbekistan)
Fourth official:
Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)
Video assistant referee:
Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)
Assistant video assistant referee:
Fu Ming (China PR)

Match rules: [9]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time.
  • Maximum of twelve named substitutes.
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time (Regulations Article 8.4). [note 1]

Goalscorers

There were 3 goals scored in 1 match, for an average of 3 goals per match.

1 goal

Notes

  1. Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

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References

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  2. "AFC Executive Committee unveils dynamic enhancements to the AFC Club Competitions". The AFC. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
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  4. "INTERNATIONAL MATCH CALENDAR 2020-2024" (PDF). FIFA. August 2021.
  5. Loughton, Max (19 November 2021). "Socceroos in reported World Cup qualifying change that would've meant no famous '05 shootout". Fox Sports Australia.
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  7. "Asian Playoffs: 4 Classic Encounters". Asian Football Confederation. 2 June 2022.
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  9. 1 2 "REGULATIONS FIFA World Cup 2022 Preliminary Competition Including COVID-19 Regulations" (PDF). FIFA. 29 September 2020.
  10. Allen, William (26 November 2021). "2022 World Cup inter-confederation play-off draw: fixtures and format". as.com. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
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