2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round
The AFC first round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, which also served as the first round of 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, was played from 6 to 11 June 2019.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6-11 June 2019 |
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 32 (2.67 per match) |
| Attendance | 91,876 (7,656 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Shahrel Fikri (4 goals) |
← 2018 2026 ⊟ | |
Format
[edit]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.
The six losers were eligible to enter the 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup, which was subsequently cancelled.
Timor-Leste were barred from participating in the qualification tournament after being found to have fielded a total of twelve ineligible players in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches, among other competitions.[2] However, as FIFA did not bar Timor-Leste from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, they were still allowed to enter the competition, but were ineligible to qualify for the Asian Cup.[3]
Seeding
[edit]The draw for the first round was held on 17 April 2019 at 11:00 MST (UTC 8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4]
The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of April 2019 (shown in parentheses below).[5] Teams from Pot A hosted the first leg, while teams from Pot B hosted the second leg.
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.
| Pot A | Pot B |
|---|---|
|
Summary
[edit]The first legs were played on 6–7 June, and the second legs on 11 June 2019.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mongolia 
|
3–2 |  Brunei
|
2–0 | 1–2 |
Macau 
|
1–3 |  Sri Lanka
|
1–0 | 0–3[note 2] |
Laos 
|
0–1 |  Bangladesh
|
0–1 | 0–0 |
| Malaysia
|
12–2 |  East Timor
|
7–1 | 5–1 |
Cambodia 
|
4–1 |  Pakistan
|
2–0 | 2–1 |
Bhutan 
|
1–5 |  Guam
|
1–0 | 0–5 |
Matches
[edit]
| Brunei | 2–1 | Mongolia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Mongolia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Macau | 1–0 | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
| Sri Lanka | 3–0 Awarded[note 2] | Macau |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Sri Lanka won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
Bangladesh won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Malaysia | 7–1 | East Timor |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
|
| East Timor | 1–5 | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Malaysia won 12–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Cambodia | 2–0 | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Cambodia won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Bhutan | 1–0 | Guam |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Guam won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
Goalscorers
[edit]There were 32 goals scored in 11 matches, for an average of 2.91 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Notes
[edit]- ^ Timor-Leste already barred for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup but were competing to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
- ^ a b The match was awarded as a 3–0 victory to Sri Lanka,[6] after Macau did not send their team for the match due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[7]
- ^ Macau played their home match in Zhuhai, China, due to ongoing maintenance of Estádio Campo Desportivo.[8]
- ^ The Malaysia v Timor-Leste match, originally to be played on 6 June 2019, was postponed due to Eid al-Fitr celebrations following a request from the Football Association of Malaysia.[9]
- ^ Timor-Leste played their home match in Malaysia due to a lack of a suitable venue in their country.[10]
- ^ Pakistan played their home match in Qatar.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2019". Asian Football Confederation. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2019.
- ^ AFC (20 January 2017). "Federacao Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". LawInSport (Press release). Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ "Road to Qatar 2022: Asian teams discover Round 1 opponents". Asian Football Confederation. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ "Draw sets out path for Asian aspirants". FIFA. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ "FIFA Men's Ranking – April 2019 (AFC)". FIFA. 4 April 2019. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019.
- ^ "FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions Macau Football Association". FIFA. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ "Football - Macau not sending team to Sri Lanka due to security concerns". Reuters. 8 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
- ^ "RAEM recorre a estádio de Zhuhai para receber Sri Lanka". Tribuna de Macau. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ "Venue for Malaysia-Timor Leste second leg confirmed". Goal. 10 May 2019. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ "Timor-Leste yet to confirm venue for 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers game against Malaysia – AFC". Fox Sports Asia. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ "Pakistan name preliminary squad for Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". Ghana Soccernet. 28 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
External links
[edit]- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – Asia Matches: Round 1, FIFA.com
- FIFA World Cup, the-AFC.com
- AFC Asian Cup, the-AFC.com
- Preliminary Joint Qualification 2022, stats.the-AFC.com