2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™

14 June - 15 July
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Asia

Road to Russia

The Asian Football Confederation's Preliminary Competition offers four and a half berths at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.

45
Participating Teams

Round 1MAR 2015

12
The 12 lowest-ranked Participating Member Associations (PMAs), PMA Rank 35 through to PMA Rank 46 (based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of January 2015), will contest Round One.
  • Bhutan
    BHUBhutan
  • Brunei Darussalam
    BRUBrunei Darussalam
  • Cambodia
    CAMCambodia
  • India
    INDIndia
  • Macau
    MACMacau
  • Mongolia
    MNGMongolia
  • Nepal
    NEPNepal
  • Pakistan
    PAKPakistan
  • Sri Lanka
    SRISri Lanka
  • Timor-Leste
    TLSTimor-Leste
  • Chinese Taipei
    TPEChinese Taipei
  • Yemen
    YEMYemen
The 12 teams will be paired into 6 home-and-away series.
  • 1
  • India
    INDIndia
  • VS
  • Nepal
    NEPNepal
  • 2
  • Yemen
    YEMYemen
  • VS
  • Pakistan
    PAKPakistan
  • 3
  • Timor-Leste
    TLSTimor-Leste
  • VS
  • Mongolia
    MNGMongolia
  • 4
  • Cambodia
    CAMCambodia
  • VS
  • Macau
    MACMacau
  • 5
  • Chinese Taipei
    TPEChinese Taipei
  • VS
  • Brunei Darussalam
    BRUBrunei Darussalam
  • 6
  • Sri Lanka
    SRISri Lanka
  • VS
  • Bhutan
    BHUBhutan
The 6 series winners advance to Round Two.

Round 2JUN 2015 - MAR 2016

6+34
The 6 Round One winners will then join the remaining 34 PMAs in Round Two.
  • Afghanistan
    AFGAfghanistan
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
  • Bangladesh
    BANBangladesh
  • Bahrain
    BHRBahrain
  • Bhutan
    BHUBhutan
  • Cambodia
    CAMCambodia
  • China PR
    CHNChina PR
  • Guam
    GUMGuam
  • Hong Kong
    HKGHong Kong
  • India
    INDIndia
  • IR Iran
    IRNIR Iran
  • Iraq
    IRQIraq
  • Jordan
    JORJordan
  • Japan
    JPNJapan
  • Kyrgyz Republic
    KGZKyrgyz Republic
  • Korea Republic
    KORKorea Republic
  • Saudi Arabia
    KSASaudi Arabia
  • Kuwait
    KUWKuwait
  • Laos
    LAOLaos
  • Lebanon
    LIBLebanon
  • Malaysia
    MASMalaysia
  • Maldives
    MDVMaldives
  • Myanmar
    MYAMyanmar
  • Oman
    OMAOman
  • Philippines
    PHIPhilippines
  • Palestine
    PLEPalestine
  • Korea DPR
    PRKKorea DPR
  • Qatar
    QATQatar
  • Singapore
    SINSingapore
  • Syria
    SYRSyria
  • Thailand
    THAThailand
  • Tajikistan
    TJKTajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
    TKMTurkmenistan
  • Timor-Leste
    TLSTimor-Leste
  • Chinese Taipei
    TPEChinese Taipei
  • United Arab Emirates
    UAEUnited Arab Emirates
  • Uzbekistan
    UZBUzbekistan
  • Vietnam
    VIEVietnam
  • Yemen
    YEMYemen
The 40 teams will be drawn into eight round-robin, home-and-away groups of five teams each.
Group A
  • Saudi Arabia
    KSASaudi Arabia
  • United Arab Emirates
    UAEUnited Arab Emirates
  • Palestine
    PLEPalestine
  • Malaysia
    MASMalaysia
  • Timor-Leste
    TLSTimor-Leste
Group B
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
  • Jordan
    JORJordan
  • Kyrgyz Republic
    KGZKyrgyz Republic
  • Tajikistan
    TJKTajikistan
  • Bangladesh
    BANBangladesh
Group C
  • Qatar
    QATQatar
  • China PR
    CHNChina PR
  • Hong Kong
    HKGHong Kong
  • Maldives
    MDVMaldives
  • Bhutan
    BHUBhutan
Group D
  • IR Iran
    IRNIR Iran
  • Oman
    OMAOman
  • Turkmenistan
    TKMTurkmenistan
  • Guam
    GUMGuam
  • India
    INDIndia
Group E
  • Japan
    JPNJapan
  • Syria
    SYRSyria
  • Singapore
    SINSingapore
  • Afghanistan
    AFGAfghanistan
  • Cambodia
    CAMCambodia
Group F
  • Thailand
    THAThailand
  • Iraq
    IRQIraq
  • Vietnam
    VIEVietnam
  • Chinese Taipei
    TPEChinese Taipei
Group G
  • Korea Republic
    KORKorea Republic
  • Lebanon
    LIBLebanon
  • Kuwait
    KUWKuwait
  • Myanmar
    MYAMyanmar
  • Laos
    LAOLaos
Group H
  • Uzbekistan
    UZBUzbekistan
  • Korea DPR
    PRKKorea DPR
  • Philippines
    PHIPhilippines
  • Bahrain
    BHRBahrain
  • Yemen
    YEMYemen
The eight group winners and four best second placed teams will advance to Round Three.

Round 3AUG 2016 - SEP 2017

12
The 12 teams qualifying from Round Two will take part in Round Three.
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
  • China PR
    CHNChina PR
  • IR Iran
    IRNIR Iran
  • Iraq
    IRQIraq
  • Japan
    JPNJapan
  • Korea Republic
    KORKorea Republic
  • Saudi Arabia
    KSASaudi Arabia
  • Qatar
    QATQatar
  • Syria
    SYRSyria
  • Thailand
    THAThailand
  • United Arab Emirates
    UAEUnited Arab Emirates
  • Uzbekistan
    UZBUzbekistan
The 12 teams will be drawn into two round-robin, home-and-away groups of six teams each.
Group A
  • IR Iran
    IRNIR Iran
  • Korea Republic
    KORKorea Republic
  • Syria
    SYRSyria
  • Uzbekistan
    UZBUzbekistan
  • China PR
    CHNChina PR
  • Qatar
    QATQatar
Group B
  • Japan
    JPNJapan
  • Saudi Arabia
    KSASaudi Arabia
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
  • United Arab Emirates
    UAEUnited Arab Emirates
  • Iraq
    IRQIraq
  • Thailand
    THAThailand
The third-placed teams of each group advance to Round Four.
The two group winners and two group runners-up will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.

Play-offOCT 2017

2
The 2 third-placed teams from the two Round Three groups will contest Round Four.
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
  • Syria
    SYRSyria
The teams will play a home-and-away series.
  • 1
  • Syria
    SYRSyria
  • VS
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
The Round Four winner advances to the intercontinental play-off.

Play-offNOV 2017

2
The 2 teams will be paired into 1 home-and-away series.
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
  • Honduras
    HONHonduras
The 2 PMAs participating in the CONCACAF-Asian Zone play-off will meet each other home and away.
  • 1
  • Honduras
    HONHonduras
  • VS
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
The winner will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.
2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™
14 Jun - 15 Jul
4 + 0.5
The four teams qualified from Round 3 and the winner of the intercontinental play-off.
  • Australia
    AUSAustralia
  • IR Iran
    IRNIR Iran
  • Japan
    JPNJapan
  • Korea Republic
    KORKorea Republic
  • Saudi Arabia
    KSASaudi Arabia