2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC First Round
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]
Format
A total of 12 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:
- Pot A contained the teams ranked 1–6 (i.e., 35–40 in the AFC entrant list).
- Pot B contained the teams ranked 7–12 (i.e., 41–46 in the AFC entrant list).
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 A | Pot B |
|---|---|
|
Matches
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
India  |
2–0 |  Nepal |
2–0 | 0–0 |
Yemen  |
3–1 |  Pakistan |
3–1 | 0–0 |
Timor-Leste  |
5–1 |  Mongolia |
4–1 | 1–0 |
Cambodia  |
4–1 |  Macau |
3–0 | 1–1 |
Chinese Taipei  |
2–1 |  Brunei |
0–1 | 2–0 |
Sri Lanka  |
1–3 |  Bhutan |
0–1 | 1–2 |
India won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Pakistan |
0–0 | Yemen |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town (Bahrain)[note 2] Attendance: 2,200 Referee: Ali Sabah Adday Al-Qaysi (Iraq) |
Yemen won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
Timor-Leste won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
Cambodia won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Brunei |
0–2 | Chinese Taipei |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Wang Rui  37'Chu En-le 52' |
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.
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
- ↑ Yemen played their home match in Doha, Qatar due to security concerns from the 2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état.[5]
- 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]
References
- ↑ "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
- ↑ "India v Nepal headlines 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers draw". AFC. 10 February 2015.
- ↑ "Asian minnows begin World Cup mission". FIFA.com. 9 February 2015.
- ↑ "FIFA Men's Ranking – January 2015 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 8 January 2015.
- ↑ "Green-shirts resume camp ahead of major events". The News International (Pakistan). 13 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ↑ "FIFA Match Report: Pakistan v Yemen". FIFA.com.
- ↑ "Qualifier match between Pakistan and Yemen postponed". FIFA. 16 March 2015.
- ↑ "Pakistan versus Yemen qualifier postponed due to safety concerns". AFC. 17 March 2015.
- ↑ "Pakistan 2018 FIFA World Cup tie switched from Lahore to Bahrain". IBN Live. Reuters. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ↑ "Qualifying match between Pakistan and Yemen rescheduled". FIFA.com. 19 March 2015.
- ↑ "Pakistan versus Yemen qualifier rescheduled". AFC. 20 March 2015.
External links
- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – Asia: Round 1, FIFA.com
- FIFA World Cup, the-AFC.com
- AFC Asian Cup, the-AFC.com