The AFC Asian Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup finals.
Qualifiers | Debutants | Number of teams in the qualifiers | Number of teams in the final tournament |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Hong Kong *, South Vietnam , South Korea and Israel | 19 | 4 |
1960 | Republic of China | 14 | 4 |
1964 | India | 4 | 4 |
1968 | Iran * and Burma | 14 | 5 |
1972 | Iraq , Khmer Republic , Kuwait and Thailand * | 13 | 6 |
1976 | South Yemen , China PR and Malaysia | 15 | 6 |
1980 | Bangladesh , Qatar , Syria and United Arab Emirates | 17 | 10 |
1984 | Singapore and Saudi Arabia | 21 | 10 |
1988 | Japan and Bahrain | 20 | 10 |
1992 | North Korea | 20 | 8 |
1996 | Indonesia and Uzbekistan | 33 | 12 |
2000 | Lebanon * | 42 | 12 |
2004 | Jordan , Oman and Turkmenistan | 43 | 16 |
2007 | Australia | 24 | 16 |
2011 | – | 24 | 16 |
2015 | Palestine | 20 | 16 |
2019 | Kyrgyzstan , Philippines and Yemen | 45 | 24 |
2023 | TBD | 46 | 24 |
* : qualified as Host
Over the past century, AFC Asian Cup has seen various changes in its qualification format as well as the number of teams participating.
The 19 teams were divided in to three different zones based upon their location. In each zone, the teams played in a two legged Knockout format. The four winners of first round advanced to the next round. The two winners in the second round advanced to final which decided the team participating in the final tournament along with the hosts.
From 1960, the format had a slight change. The participating teams were again divided into zones based upon their location. The teams in their zones played against each other once, in a round robin format. The group topper of each zone advanced to the final tournament along with the hosts.
Starting from 1972, the format saw another change. Instead of zones, the teams were now divided into groups, with two teams instead of one advancing to the final tournament along with the hosts. Also the number of teams participating in the final tournament was increased to six and then to ten in 1980.
For a brief period, the teams were divided into groups not based on their location. This saw teams from all zones competing against each other in Asian Cup qualifiers for the first time since its inception. Two teams from each group qualified for the final tournament, along with the winners of previous edition who received a direct entry and as well as the hosts.
The format was reverted back to older one where teams were segregated based upon their location, but this time the number of participating nations increased. Winners of previous edition and the hosts were joined by the winner of each groups in qualifiers. The number of participants in the final tournament was increased to 12.
The tournament started from the preliminary round where the lower ranked teams played against each other, the winners of this round qualified for the qualifying round. In the qualifying round, top two teams from each group qualified for the final tournament. Participation of teams in the final tournament increased from 12 to 16.
The hosts, previous edition's winners, runner-up and third placed sides automatically qualified for the final tournament. AFC Challenge Cup winners(2) were also awarded a slot in the final tournament. The remaining ten slots were decided by the qualifying tournament in which the lower ranked teams played in preliminary rounds and the winners advanced to the qualifying round. In the qualifying round, the top two teams from each group received a berth in the final tournament.
The proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds for FIFA World Cup qualifiers with those for the Asian Cup was ratified by the AFC Competitions Committee. [1]
The tournament was expanded to 24 teams from previous number of 16.
The qualification structure is as follows: [1] [2]
The play-off round represented a change from the initially announced qualification format – which saw the remaining fourth-placed teams and the four best group fifth-placed teams also advance to the third round. [1]
Results of AFC Asian Cup qualification (excluded AFC Challenge Cup) as of the end of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification.
Rank | Team | Part | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Dif | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Iran | 11 | 61 | 46 | 10 | 5 | 175 | 33 | +142 | 148 |
2 | China PR | 11 | 52 | 35 | 10 | 7 | 148 | 23 | +125 | 115 |
3 | South Korea | 12 | 50 | 36 | 5 | 9 | 164 | 23 | +141 | 113 |
4 | United Arab Emirates | 10 | 48 | 34 | 8 | 6 | 132 | 27 | +105 | 110 |
5 | Qatar | 10 | 50 | 34 | 6 | 10 | 116 | 36 | +80 | 108 |
6 | Syria | 12 | 59 | 31 | 11 | 17 | 112 | 60 | +52 | 104 |
7 | Saudi Arabia | 7 | 40 | 33 | 4 | 3 | 130 | 17 | +113 | 103 |
8 | Thailand | 14 | 61 | 30 | 10 | 21 | 119 | 82 | +37 | 100 |
9 | Oman | 9 | 52 | 30 | 6 | 16 | 124 | 54 | +70 | 96 |
10 | Hong Kong | 16 | 78 | 24 | 21 | 33 | 105 | 111 | –6 | 93 |
11 | Iraq | 8 | 41 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 88 | 32 | +56 | 92 |
12 | Jordan | 10 | 53 | 26 | 13 | 14 | 94 | 49 | 45 | 91 |
13 | Kuwait | 10 | 50 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 110 | 45 | +65 | 90 |
14 | Bahrain | 10 | 54 | 27 | 6 | 21 | 80 | 55 | +25 | 87 |
15 | Japan | 7 | 36 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 92 | 17 | +75 | 85 |
16 | Uzbekistan | 7 | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 85 | 30 | +55 | 80 |
17 | North Korea | 7 | 45 | 23 | 11 | 11 | 70 | 48 | +22 | 80 |
18 | Malaysia | 16 | 60 | 19 | 15 | 26 | 98 | 101 | –3 | 72 |
19 | Vietnam | 10 | 40 | 19 | 7 | 20 | 86 | 71 | +15 | 64 |
20 | Indonesia | 12 | 51 | 17 | 11 | 23 | 77 | 73 | +4 | 62 |
21 | Lebanon | 7 | 45 | 17 | 9 | 19 | 61 | 62 | –1 | 60 |
22 | Yemen | 9 | 59 | 16 | 10 | 33 | 69 | 114 | –45 | 58 |
23 | India | 10 | 52 | 15 | 7 | 30 | 59 | 98 | –39 | 52 |
24 | Singapore | 11 | 58 | 14 | 10 | 34 | 59 | 106 | –47 | 52 |
25 | Turkmenistan | 4 | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 47 | 37 | +10 | 47 |
26 | Myanmar | 5 | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 52 | 73 | –21 | 47 |
27 | Chinese Taipei | 9 | 46 | 14 | 3 | 29 | 67 | 109 | –42 | 45 |
28 | Australia | 3 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 42 | 11 | +31 | 41 |
29 | Palestine | 4 | 29 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 58 | 36 | +22 | 38 |
30 | Tajikistan | 4 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 38 | 44 | –6 | 35 |
31 | Kyrgyzstan | 4 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 35 | 37 | –2 | 33 |
32 | Cambodia | 5 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 33 | 87 | –54 | 27 |
33 | Philippines | 8 | 34 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 32 | 101 | –69 | 25 |
34 | Sri Lanka | 7 | 31 | 7 | 1 | 23 | 25 | 102 | –77 | 22 |
35 | Bangladesh | 8 | 40 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 27 | 113 | –86 | 22 |
36 | Afghanistan | 5 | 30 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 88 | –63 | 21 |
37 | Maldives | 5 | 34 | 5 | 2 | 27 | 32 | 107 | –75 | 17 |
38 | Pakistan | 10 | 37 | 4 | 4 | 29 | 22 | 101 | –79 | 16 |
39 | Macau | 6 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 21 | 52 | –31 | 14 |
40 | Bhutan | 3 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 21 | 161 | –140 | 14 |
41 | Kazakhstan | 2 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 12 |
42 | Israel | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 11 |
43 | Laos | 3 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 61 | –48 | 11 |
44 | Mongolia | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 10 |
45 | Nepal | 6 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 12 | 91 | –79 | 10 |
46 | Guam | 4 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 86 | –81 | 7 |
47 | Brunei | 5 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 56 | –52 | 5 |
48 | South Yemen | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | –3 | 1 |
49 | Timor-Leste | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 66 | –62 | 0 |
Team | 1956 (4) | 1960 (4) | 1964 (4) | 1968 (5) | 1972 (6) | 1976 (6) | 1980 (8) | 1984 (8) | 1988 (8) | 1992 (8) | 1996 (12) | 2000 (12) | 2004 (16) | 2007 (16) | 2011 (16) | 2015 (16) | 2019 (24) | 2023 (24) | Attempts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | × | × | × | × | • | × | • | • | • | 7 | |
Bhutan | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | 4 |
Brunei | × | × | × | × | • | • | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | 7 |
Guam | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | × | • | • | × | 5 | |
Laos | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | × | × | • | • | • | 4 |
Macau | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | × | × | • | • | • | • | × | × | • | • | • | 8 |
Maldives | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | × | • | • | • | 6 | |
Mongolia | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | × | • | • | • | 5 | |
Nepal | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | × | • | • | • | × | • | • | • | 8 | |
Pakistan | × | • | × | • | • | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 13 |
Sri Lanka | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | × | × | • | • | • | × | • | • | • | 10 | |
Tajikistan | Part of Soviet Union | • | • | • | × | × | • | • | 5 | ||||||||||
Timor-Leste | Not an AFC member | Part of Indonesia | × | • | × | × | × | • | • | 2 | |||||||||
Notes:
Last update was on 21 March 2021.
Team | Last appearance | AC Missed | Draught years |
---|---|---|---|
Chinese Taipei , Myanmar and Hong Kong | 1968 | 13 | 53 |
Cambodia | 1972 | 12 | 49 |
Bangladesh | 1980 | 10 | 41 |
Singapore | 1984 | 9 | 37 |
Malaysia and Indonesia | 2007 | 3 | 14 |
Kuwait | 2015 | 1 | 6 |
Team | Draught period | AC Missed | Draught years |
---|---|---|---|
Vietnam 1 | 1960 – 2007 | 11 | 47 |
India | 1984 – 2011 | 6 | 27 |
Malaysia | 1980 – 2007 | 7 | 27 |
India | 1964 – 1984 | 4 | 20 |
Thailand | 1972 – 1992 | 4 | 20 |
North Korea | 1992 – 2011 | 4 | 19 |
Lebanon | 2000 – 2019 | 4 | 19 |
Iraq | 1976 – 1992 | 3 | 16 |
Bahrain | 1988 – 2004 | 3 | 16 |
Syria | 1986 – 2011 | 3 | 15 |
Turkmenistan | 2004 – 2019 | 3 | 15 |
South Korea | 1960 – 1972 | 2 | 12 |
North Korea | 1980 – 1992 | 2 | 12 |
Thailand and Vietnam | 2007 – 2019 | 2 | 12 |
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