2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification

2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates6 February 2013 – 5 March 2014
Teams20 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played60
Goals scored161 (2.68 per match)
Attendance672,607 (11,210 per match)
Top scorer(s)Iran Reza Ghoochannejhad
United Arab Emirates Ali Mabkhout
(5 goals each)
2011
2019

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification was a qualification process organized by the AFC to determine the participating teams for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup, hosted by Australia, featured 16 teams.

In the initial scheme, ten places were determined by qualification matches, while six places were reserved for the following:

As the host nation Australia also finished as runners-up in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the initial 6 automatic qualification spots were reduced to 5, with a total of 11 spots eventually determined by the qualification matches, in which 20 AFC members compete.[1]

Qualified teams

[edit]
Qualification status
  Country qualified for Asian Cup
  Country failed to qualify
Team Method of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Finals
appearance
Last
appearance
Previous best
performance
 Australia Hosts 5 January 2011 3rd 2011 Runners-up (2011)
 Japan 2011 AFC Asian Cup winners 25 January 2011 8th 2011 Winners (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
 South Korea 2011 AFC Asian Cup 3rd place 28 January 2011 13th 2011 Winners (1956, 1960)
 North Korea 2012 AFC Challenge Cup winners 19 March 2012 4th 2011 Fourth place (1980)
 Bahrain Group D winners 15 November 2013 5th 2011 Fourth place (2004)
 United Arab Emirates Group E winners 15 November 2013 9th 2011 Runners-up (1996)
 Saudi Arabia Group C winners 15 November 2013 9th 2011 Winners (1984, 1988, 1996)
 Oman Group A winners 19 November 2013 3rd 2007 Group Stage (2004, 2007)
 Uzbekistan Group E runners-up 19 November 2013 6th 2011 Fourth place (2011)
 Qatar Group D runners-up 19 November 2013 9th 2011 Quarter-finals (2000, 2011)
 Iran Group B winners 19 November 2013 13th 2011 Winners (1968, 1972, 1976)
 Kuwait Group B runners-up 19 November 2013 10th 2011 Winners (1980)
 Jordan Group A runners-up 4 February 2014 3rd 2011 Quarter-finals (2004, 2011)
 Iraq Group C runners-up 5 March 2014 8th 2011 Winners (2007)
 China Best third-placed team 5 March 2014 11th 2011 Runners-up (1984, 2004)
 Palestine 2014 AFC Challenge Cup winners 30 May 2014 1st Debut None

Qualification process

[edit]

The preliminary draw was held in Melbourne on 9 October 2012, 18:00 UTC+11.[2] The twenty teams involved in the qualifiers were drawn into five groups of four teams each, with each group containing one team from each of the following seeding pots. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team from among all the groups qualified for the finals.[3]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

 Uzbekistan
 Qatar
 Jordan
 Iran
 Iraq

 China
 Bahrain
 Syria
 United Arab Emirates
 Kuwait

 Saudi Arabia
 Oman
 Thailand
 Yemen
 Vietnam

 Malaysia
 Singapore
 Indonesia
 Lebanon
 Hong Kong

The following teams did not enter the main qualifying draw, as categorized as "emerging countries" they compete separately. The teams were eligible to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup by winning either the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup or the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup.

Entrants to 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
Entrants to 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification

Schedule

[edit]

The following matchdays were assigned by the AFC for 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification. As 15 and 19 November 2013 were also the dates of the inter-confederation playoffs for the 2014 FIFA World Cup,[4] a number of alternative matchdays were allocated.

Year Matchday Date
2013 Matchday 1 6 February
Matchday 2 22 March
Matchday 3 15 October
Matchday 4 15 November
Matchday 5 19 November
2014[5] Alternative 11, 18, 25, 31 January
4 February
Matchday 6 5 March

Groups

[edit]
Key to colours in group tables
Group winners, runners-up, and best third-placed team qualified for the finals
Tiebreakers

In each group, the teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers were in the following order:[6]

  1. Greater number of points obtained in group matches between the teams concerned
  2. Goal difference resulting from group matches between the teams concerned
  3. Greater number of goals scored in group matches between the teams concerned (away goals not applicable)
  4. Goal difference in all group matches
  5. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  6. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were involved and they were both on the field of play
  7. Drawing of lots

Group A

[edit]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Oman Jordan Syria Singapore
 Oman 6 4 2 0 7 1 +6 14 0–0 1–0 3–1
 Jordan 6 3 3 0 10 3 +7 12 0–0 2–1 4–0
 Syria 6 1 1 4 7 7 0 4 0–1 1–1 4–0
 Singapore 6 1 0 5 4 17 −13 3 0–2 1–3 2–1
Source: [citation needed]
Oman 1–0 Syria
[1]
Jordan 4–0 Singapore
Report

Singapore 0–2 Oman
Report
Attendance: 5,849
Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)
Syria 1–1 Jordan
Report

Singapore 2–1 Syria
Report
Jordan 0–0 Oman
Report

Syria 4–0 Singapore
Report

Syria 0–1 Oman
Report


Singapore 1–3 Jordan
Report
Attendance: 2,371
Referee: Tan Hai (China PR)

Oman 3–1 Singapore
Report
Jordan 2–1 Syria
Report

Group B

[edit]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Iran Kuwait Lebanon Thailand
 Iran 6 5 1 0 18 5 +13 16 3–2 5–0 2–1
 Kuwait 6 2 3 1 10 7 +3 9 1–1 0–0 3–1
 Lebanon 6 2 2 2 12 14 −2 8 1–4 1–1 5–2
 Thailand 6 0 0 6 7 21 −14 0 0–3 1–3 2–5
Source: [citation needed]
Iran 5–0 Lebanon
Report
Attendance: 19,733
Thailand 1–3 Kuwait
Report
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Lebanon 5–2 Thailand
Report
Kuwait 1–1 Iran
Report
Attendance: 12,321
Referee: Lee Min-Hu (South Korea)

Lebanon 1–1 Kuwait
Report
Iran 2–1 Thailand
Report
Attendance: 17,330

Thailand 0–3 Iran
Report
Kuwait 0–0 Lebanon
Report

Lebanon 1–4 Iran
Report
Kuwait 3–1 Thailand
Report

Iran 3–2 Kuwait
Report
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)
Thailand 2–5 Lebanon
Report
Attendance: 5,000

Group C

[edit]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Saudi Arabia Iraq China Indonesia
 Saudi Arabia 6 5 1 0 9 3 +6 16 2–1 2–1 1–0
 Iraq 6 3 0 3 7 6 +1 9 0–2 3–1 1–0
 China 6 2 2 2 5 6 −1 8 0–0 1–0 1–0
 Indonesia 6 0 1 5 2 8 −6 1 1–2 0–2 1–1
Source: [citation needed]
Iraq 1–0 Indonesia
Report
Saudi Arabia 2–1 China
Report

China 1–0 Iraq
Report
Attendance: 31,621
Indonesia 1–2 Saudi Arabia
Report

Indonesia 1–1 China
Report
Iraq 0–2 Saudi Arabia
Report

China 1–0 Indonesia
Report
Saudi Arabia 2–1 Iraq
Report

China 0–0 Saudi Arabia
Report
Indonesia 0–2 Iraq
Report

Iraq 3–1 China
Report

Group D

[edit]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Bahrain Qatar Malaysia Yemen
 Bahrain 6 4 2 0 7 1 +6 14 1–0 1–0 2–0
 Qatar 6 4 1 1 13 2 +11 13 0–0 1–0 6–0
 Malaysia 6 2 1 3 5 7 −2 7 1–1 0–1 2–1
 Yemen 6 0 0 6 3 18 −15 0 0–2 1–4 1–2
Source: [citation needed]
Yemen 0–2 Bahrain
Report
Qatar 2–0 Malaysia
Report

Malaysia 2–1 Yemen
Report
Attendance: 80,000
Bahrain 1–0 Qatar
Report

Qatar 6–0 Yemen
Report
Malaysia 1–1 Bahrain
Report
Attendance: 6,500
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Bahrain 1–0 Malaysia
Report
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)

Malaysia 0–1 Qatar
Report
Bahrain 2–0 Yemen
Report

Qatar 0–0 Bahrain
Report

Group E

[edit]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Hong Kong Vietnam
 United Arab Emirates 6 5 1 0 18 3 +15 16 2–1 4–0 5–0
 Uzbekistan 6 3 2 1 10 4 +6 11 1–1 0–0 3–1
 Hong Kong 6 1 1 4 2 13 −11 4 0–4 0–2 1–0
 Vietnam 6 1 0 5 5 15 −10 3 1–2 0–3 3–1
Source: [citation needed]
Uzbekistan 0–0 Hong Kong
Report

Hong Kong 1–0 Vietnam
Report
United Arab Emirates 2–1 Uzbekistan
Report

Hong Kong 0–4 United Arab Emirates
Report
Uzbekistan 3–1 Vietnam
Report

Vietnam 0–3 Uzbekistan
Report
United Arab Emirates 4–0 Hong Kong
Report

Hong Kong 0–2 Uzbekistan
Report
United Arab Emirates 5–0 Vietnam
Report

Uzbekistan 1–1 United Arab Emirates
Report
Attendance: 15,000

Ranking of third-placed teams

[edit]

To determine the best third-placed team, the following criteria were used:[6]

  1. Number of points obtained in the group matches
  2. Goal difference in the group matches
  3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches
  4. Fewer points calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
  5. Drawing of lots
Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
C  China 6 2 2 2 5 6 −1 8
B  Lebanon 6 2 2 2 12 14 −2 8
D  Malaysia 6 2 1 3 5 7 −2 7
A  Syria 6 1 1 4 7 7 0 4
E  Hong Kong 6 1 1 4 2 13 −11 4
Source: [citation needed]

Goalscorers

[edit]
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goals

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b The Singapore v Oman and Syria v Jordan matches on Matchday 2 were rescheduled from the original date of 22 March 2013 on the request of the football associations of Oman and Jordan so that their respective national teams can prepare for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification AFC fourth round matches on 26 March 2013.[7][8]
  2. ^ a b c Syria played their home matches outside the country due to security concerns.[9]
  3. ^ a b The Oman v Jordan match on Matchday 4 and Singapore v Jordan match on Matchday 5 were rescheduled from the original dates of 15 and 19 November 2013 due to Jordan's qualification to the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification inter-confederation play-off matches on 14 and 20 November 2013.[10]
  4. ^ a b c Iraq played their home matches outside the country due to security concerns.
  5. ^ a b c Yemen played their home matches outside the country due to security concerns.[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Automatic bye to 2015 Finals for top-three". the-afc.com. 24 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Giants to know foes on Tuesday". the-afc.com. 8 October 2012.
  3. ^ "AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 preliminary draw results". the-afc.com. 9 October 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014.
  4. ^ "2014 FWC Asian qualifiers format". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  5. ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2014" (PDF). AFC.
  6. ^ a b "AFC Asian Cup 2015 Qualifiers Regulations" (PDF). AFC.com.
  7. ^ "FAS appoints caretaker national team coach". Football Association of Singapore. January 21, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  8. ^ المنتخب الوطني يلاقي اندونيسيا وديا والاتحاد الاسيوي يوافق على تأجيل مباراة الاردن وسوريا (in Arabic). Jordan Football Association. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-01-10. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  9. ^ ایران میزبان بازی‌های سوریه شد (in Persian). روزنامه شرق. June 30, 2013. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  10. ^ "Jordan's AFC Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers to be rescheduled". Asian Football Confederation. 11 September 2013.
  11. ^ رئيس الاتحاد: حظر اللعب في اليمن بسبب المخاوف الأمنية (in Arabic). Yemen Football Association. January 23, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013.
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