2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Third Round

The third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification will be played from 8 to 14 June 2022 in six centralised venues. It was originally scheduled for 30 March 2021 to 29 March 2022, but the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) changed the dates on multiple occasions due to postponements of matches in the second round, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.

2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Third Round
Tournament details
Dates8–14 June 2022
Teams24 (from 1 confederation)

Format

A total of 24 teams (22 teams which advanced from the second round and two teams which will advance from the play-off round) will compete in the third round to compete for the final 11 slots in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[1] Since the 2023 hosts China advanced to the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the automatic slot for the hosts was no longer necessary.

The 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four teams to play single round-robin matches in six centralised venues.[2] The group winners and the best five runners-up across all groups will qualify for the Asian Cup, where they are joined by China and by the 12 teams which qualified directly from the second round.[1]

On 17 February 2022, The AFC announced the 6 countries that will be hosting the third round: India, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.[3]

Qualified teams
Teams qualified
Group Runners-up (Bottom 3)[nb 1] Third place Fourth place Fifth place (Best 3) Play-off Round
A —  Philippines  Maldives — —
B  Kuwait  Jordan    Nepal — —
C —  Bahrain  Hong Kong —  Cambodia
D  Uzbekistan  Palestine  Singapore  Yemen —
E —  India  Afghanistan  Bangladesh —
F  Tajikistan  Kyrgyzstan  Mongolia  Myanmar —
G —  Malaysia  Thailand —  Indonesia
H —  Turkmenistan  Sri Lanka — —
Notes
  1. Since Qatar qualified to the Asian Cup as second round group winner, the fifth runner-up also qualified to the third round of AFC qualification for the World Cup, while the three bottom-ranked runners-up will compete in the third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

Seeding

The seeding will be based on the FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw on 24 February 2022.[4] Teams from the host countries will be placed in a separate pot allotted for Hosts MAs (Member Associations), although their final group positions will reflect their original draw seeding.[5]

  • Host Pot contains the teams from the host countries (group positions will reflect their original draw seeding positions).
  • Pot 1 contains the teams ranked 1–6 (except Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic, and India).
  • Pot 2 contains the teams ranked 7–12 (except Kuwait).
  • Pot 3 contains the teams ranked 13–18 (except Malaysia).
  • Pot 4 contains the teams ranked 19–24 (except Mongolia).

The 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four. Each group contains one team from the host pot and the remaining seeding pots, except for the original seeding pot of the host country.[note 1]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
Host Pot
  1.  Uzbekistan (85) (H)
  2.  Kyrgyzstan (96) (H)
  3.  India (104) (H)
  1.  Kuwait (143) (H)
  1.  Malaysia (154) (H)
  1.  Mongolia (184) (H)
Remaining Team
  1.  Bahrain (89)
  2.  Jordan (90)
  3.  Palestine (100)
  1.  Thailand (112)
  2.  Tajikistan (115)
  3.  Philippines (129)
  4.  Turkmenistan (134)
  5.  Hong Kong (148)
  1.  Afghanistan (150)
  2.  Yemen (151)
  3.  Myanmar (152)
  4.  Maldives (157)
  5.  Indonesia (160)
  1.  Singapore (161)
  2.    Nepal (167)
  3.  Cambodia (171)
  4.  Bangladesh (186)
  5.  Sri Lanka (204)

Schedule
Matchday Date Original date Matches
Matchday 1 8 June 2022 24 March 2021 2 vs 3, 1 vs 4
Matchday 2 11 June 2022 8 June 2021 3 vs 1, 4 vs 2
Matchday 3 14 June 2022 7 September 2021 3 vs 4, 1 vs 2

Groups
  The winner of each group (qualify directly for the final tournament).
  The runner-up of each group (may qualify for the final tournament if they are among the five best runners-up).[note 2]
Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order (Regulations Article 7.3):[1]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  5. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying criteria 1 to 4, a subset of teams is still tied, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
  9. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
  10. Drawing of lots.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Jordan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 AFC Asian Cup — 14 Jun — 8 Jun
2  Kuwait (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible 2023 AFC Asian Cup — — 8 Jun —
3  Indonesia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Jun — — 14 Jun
4    Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 Jun — —
First match(es) will be played on 8 June 2022. Source:
(H) Host
Jordan v   Nepal
Indonesia v Jordan
Nepal   v Kuwait
Indonesia v   Nepal
Jordan v Kuwait

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Palestine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 AFC Asian Cup — 14 Jun — 8 Jun
2  Philippines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible 2023 AFC Asian Cup — — 8 Jun —
3  Yemen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Jun — — 14 Jun
4  Mongolia (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 Jun — —
First match(es) will be played on 8 June 2022. Source:
(H) Host
Philippines v Yemen
Palestine v Mongolia
Yemen v Palestine
Mongolia v Philippines
Yemen v Mongolia
Palestine v Philippines

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uzbekistan (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 AFC Asian Cup — 14 Jun — 8 Jun
2  Thailand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible 2023 AFC Asian Cup — — 8 Jun —
3  Maldives 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Jun — — 14 Jun
4  Sri Lanka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 Jun — —
First match(es) will be played on 8 June 2022. Source:
(H) Host
Thailand v Maldives
Uzbekistan v Sri Lanka
Maldives v Uzbekistan
Sri Lanka v Thailand
Maldives v Sri Lanka
Uzbekistan v Thailand

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  India (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 AFC Asian Cup — 14 Jun — 8 Jun
2  Hong Kong 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible 2023 AFC Asian Cup — — 8 Jun —
3  Afghanistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Jun — — 14 Jun
4  Cambodia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 Jun — —
First match(es) will be played on 8 June 2022. Source:
(H) Host
Hong Kong v Afghanistan
India v Cambodia
Afghanistan v India
Cambodia v Hong Kong
Afghanistan v Cambodia
India v Hong Kong

Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Bahrain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 AFC Asian Cup — 14 Jun — 8 Jun
2  Turkmenistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible 2023 AFC Asian Cup — — 8 Jun —
3  Malaysia (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Jun — — 14 Jun
4  Bangladesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 Jun — —
First match(es) will be played on 8 June 2022. Source:
(H) Host
Turkmenistan v Malaysia
Bahrain v Bangladesh
Malaysia v Bahrain
Bangladesh v Turkmenistan
Malaysia v Bangladesh
Bahrain v Turkmenistan

Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Kyrgyzstan (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 AFC Asian Cup — 14 Jun — 8 Jun
2  Tajikistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible 2023 AFC Asian Cup — — 8 Jun —
3  Myanmar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Jun — — 14 Jun
4  Singapore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 Jun — —
First match(es) will be played on 8 June 2022. Source:
(H) Host
Tajikistan v Myanmar
Kyrgyzstan v Singapore
Myanmar v Kyrgyzstan
Singapore v Tajikistan
Myanmar v Singapore
Kyrgyzstan v Tajikistan

Ranking of runner-up teams
Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 A A2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 AFC Asian Cup
2 B B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 C C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 D D2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 E E2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 F F2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 8 June 2022. Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Notes
  1. The arrangement is based upon the FIFA World Rankings of February 2022.
  2. Since thirteen teams instead of twelve have qualified for the finals from the second round, there are only eleven remaining slots available. Hence, the best five second placed teams out of six groups will qualify for the Asian Cup finals.

See also

References
  1. Competition Regulations AFC Asian Cup China 2023 (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. 10 September 2020.
  2. "AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Qualifiers Final Round to be played in centralised venues". AFC. Asian Football Confederation. 20 October 2021.
  3. "AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ Qualifiers Final Round Draw to set stage for crucial encounters". The AFC. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  4. "AFC competitions and qualifiers draw dates confirmed". The AFC. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  5. "AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ Qualifiers Final Round Draw to set stage for crucial encounters". The AFC. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.