2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

The Asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Russia, for national teams which are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). A total of 4.5 slots (4 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament are available for AFC teams.

On 16 April 2014, the AFC Executive Committee approved a proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup, which will be expanded to 24 teams starting in 2019. Therefore, the first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers also acted as qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Format
The qualification structure is as follows:
 * First round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 35–46) will play home-and-away over two legs. The six winners will advance to the second round.
 * Second round: A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–34 and six first round winners) will be divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up will advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals.
 * Third round: The 12 teams (an increase from 10 for 2014) which advance from the second round will be divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
 * Fourth round: The two third-placed teams of each group from the third round will play home-and-away over two legs. The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

A total of 24 teams eliminated from World Cup qualification in the second round will compete in the third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification (which will be separate from the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification), where they will be divided into six groups of four teams and compete for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The 24 teams will consist of the 16 highest ranked teams eliminated in the second round, and the eight teams that advance from the play-off round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification which are contested by the remaining 12 teams eliminated in the second round.

Entrants
The 46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification. In order to determine which nations would compete in the first round and which nations would receive a bye through to the second round, the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015 were used (shown in parentheses), as that was the latest published rankings prior to the first round draw. The FIFA Rankings of January 2015 were also used for seeding of the first round draw; however, for seeding in the second round and third round draws, the most recent FIFA Rankings prior to those draws were used.

Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.

First round
The draw for the first round was held on 10 February 2015, 15:30 :00|UTC+8]]), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Second round
The draw for the second round was held on 14 April 2015, at 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ranking of runner-up teams
To determine the four best runner-up teams, the following criteria were used:
 * 1) Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
 * 2) Goal difference
 * 3) Goals scored
 * 4) Play-off match(es) on neutral ground (if approved by FIFA Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.

Third round
The third round will consist of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two third-placed teams will proceed to the fourth round.

The draw for the third round was held on 12 April 2016, at 16:30 MST (UTC+8), at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Fourth round
The two third-placed teams in each group from the third round will play against each other home-and-away over two legs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Note: Order of legs to be decided.


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Inter-confederation play-offs
The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg. The fifth-placed team from AFC was drawn against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, with the AFC team hosting the second leg.


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Goalscorers
Note: Players in bold are still active in the competition.


 * 16 goals


 * Mohammad Al-Sahlawi


 * 15 goals


 * Ahmed Khalil


 * 9 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Tim Cahill


 * 8 goals


 * 🇨🇳 Yang Xu
 * 🇮🇷 Sardar Azmoun
 * 🇸🇾 Omar Khribin


 * 7 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Mile Jedinak
 * 🇨🇳 Yu Dabao
 * 🇮🇷 Mehdi Taremi
 * 🇯🇵 Keisuke Honda
 * 🇰🇷 Son Heung-min
 * 🇶🇦 Hassan Al-Haidos
 * Ali Mabkhout


 * 6 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Tom Rogic
 * 🇮🇶 Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
 * 🇯🇵 Shinji Kagawa
 * 🇯🇴 Hamza Al-Dardour
 * Taisir Al-Jassim
 * 🇹🇯 Manuchekhr Dzhalilov


 * 5 goals


 * 🇯🇵 Genki Haraguchi
 * 🇯🇵 Shinji Okazaki
 * 🇯🇴 Hassan Abdel-Fattah
 * 🇲🇻 Ali Ashfaq
 * Yahya Al-Shehri
 * 🇹🇭 Teerasil Dangda
 * 🇺🇿 Sardor Rashidov


 * 4 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Tomi Juric
 * Chencho Gyeltshen
 * 🇮🇳 Sunil Chhetri
 * 🇮🇶 Younis Mahmoud
 * 🇯🇵 Maya Yoshida
 * 🇯🇴 Abdallah Deeb
 * Bader Al-Mutawa
 * Yousef Nasser
 * 🇰🇬 Anton Zemlianukhin
 * Ahmad Abu Nahyeh
 * 🇶🇦 Boualem Khoukhi
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Muntari
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Musa
 * Nawaf Al Abed
 * 🇰🇷 Koo Ja-cheol
 * 🇸🇾 Mahmoud Al-Mawas
 * 🇸🇾 Osama Omari
 * 🇺🇿 Odil Ahmedov
 * 🇺🇿 Igor Sergeev


 * 3 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Nathan Burns
 * 🇦🇺 Mathew Leckie
 * 🇦🇺 Massimo Luongo
 * Tshering Dorji
 * 🇨🇳 Jiang Ning
 * 🇱🇦 Khampheng Sayavutthi
 * 🇰🇵 Jong Il-gwan
 * 🇰🇵 Ri Hyok-chol
 * Tamer Seyam
 * Jonathan Cantillana
 * Misagh Bahadoran
 * 🇶🇦 Ali Assadalla
 * Fahad Al-Muwallad
 * Safuwan Baharudin
 * Fazrul Nawaz
 * 🇰🇷 Ki Sung-yueng
 * 🇰🇷 Kwon Chang-hoon
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Jae-sung
 * 🇸🇾 Sanharib Malki
 * 🇹🇲 Arslanmyrat Amanow
 * Omar Abdulrahman
 * 🇺🇿 Alexander Geynrikh
 * Lê Công Vinh


 * 2 goals


 * 🇦🇫 Khaibar Amani
 * 🇦🇫 Norlla Amiri
 * 🇦🇫 Mustafa Zazai
 * 🇦🇺 Mark Milligan
 * 🇦🇺 Aaron Mooy
 * 🇧🇭 Ismail Abdullatif
 * 🇧🇭 Abdulwahab Al-Malood
 * 🇧🇭 Sayed Mohamed Adnan
 * Chan Vathanaka
 * 🇨🇳 Wang Yongpo
 * 🇨🇳 Wu Lei
 * 🇨🇳 Yu Hanchao
 * Wu Chun-ching
 * 🇭🇰 Godfred Karikari
 * 🇭🇰 Lam Ka Wai
 * 🇭🇰 Jaimes McKee
 * 🇮🇷 Ashkan Dejagah
 * 🇮🇷 Ehsan Hajsafi
 * 🇮🇷 Jalal Hosseini
 * 🇮🇷 Alireza Jahanbakhsh
 * 🇮🇶 Ali Adnan
 * 🇮🇶 Justin Meram
 * 🇮🇶 Ahmed Yasin
 * 🇯🇵 Mu Kanazaki
 * 🇯🇵 Hiroshi Kiyotake
 * 🇯🇵 Yuya Kubo
 * 🇰🇬 Vitalij Lux
 * Hassan Chaito
 * Hassan Maatouk
 * Aung Thu
 * 🇰🇵 Pak Kwang-ryong
 * Amad Al-Hosni
 * Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri
 * Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali
 * Jaka Ihbeisheh
 * Sameh Maraaba
 * Yashir Pinto
 * Iain Ramsay
 * 🇶🇦 Karim Boudiaf
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Kasola
 * 🇶🇦 Sebastián Soria
 * Khairul Amri
 * 🇰🇷 Jang Hyun-soo
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Chung-yong
 * 🇰🇷 Nam Tae-hee
 * 🇰🇷 Suk Hyun-jun
 * 🇸🇾 Abdelrazaq Al Hussain
 * 🇸🇾 Raja Rafe
 * 🇹🇯 Akhtam Nazarov
 * 🇹🇭 Pokklaw Anan
 * 🇹🇭 Theerathon Bunmathan
 * 🇹🇭 Tana Chanabut
 * 🇹🇭 Adisak Kraisorn
 * 🇹🇭 Mongkol Tossakrai
 * Chiquito do Carmo
 * Ramon Saro
 * 🇹🇲 Guwanç Abylow
 * 🇺🇿 Marat Bikmaev
 * 🇺🇿 Anzur Ismailov
 * Nguyễn Văn Toàn
 * 🇾🇪 Ahmed Al-Sarori


 * 1 goal


 * 🇦🇫 Faysal Shayesteh
 * 🇦🇫 Josef Shirdel
 * 🇦🇺 Jackson Irvine
 * 🇦🇺 Tommy Oar
 * 🇦🇺 Trent Sainsbury
 * 🇧🇭 Sami Al-Husaini
 * 🇧🇭 Hussain Ali Baba
 * 🇧🇭 Mohamed Al Romaihi
 * 🇧🇭 Abdullah Omar
 * Jahid Hasan Ameli
 * Biren Basnet
 * Adi Said
 * Thierry Bin
 * Khoun Laboravy
 * Sos Suhana
 * 🇨🇳 Hao Junmin
 * 🇨🇳 Huang Bowen
 * 🇨🇳 Mei Fang
 * 🇨🇳 Yu Hai
 * 🇨🇳 Zhang Linpeng
 * 🇨🇳 Zhang Xizhe
 * Chu En-le
 * Hung Kai-chun
 * Wang Rui
 * Wen Chih-hao
 * Yaki Yen
 * 🇬🇺 Brandon McDonald
 * 🇬🇺 Travis Nicklaw
 * 🇭🇰 Christian Annan
 * 🇭🇰 Bai He
 * 🇭🇰 Chan Siu Ki
 * 🇭🇰 Ju Yingzhi
 * 🇭🇰 Lo Kwan Yee
 * 🇭🇰 Paulinho
 * 🇭🇰 Xu Deshuai
 * 🇮🇳 Sandesh Jhingan
 * 🇮🇳 Jeje Lalpekhlua
 * 🇮🇳 Robin Singh
 * 🇮🇷 Karim Ansarifard
 * 🇮🇷 Saeid Ezatolahi
 * 🇮🇷 Reza Ghoochannejhad
 * 🇮🇷 Kamal Kamyabinia
 * 🇮🇷 Morteza Pouraliganji
 * 🇮🇷 Ramin Rezaeian
 * 🇮🇷 Masoud Shojaei
 * 🇮🇷 Andranik Teymourian
 * 🇮🇷 Mehdi Torabi
 * 🇮🇶 Saad Abdul-Amir
 * 🇮🇶 Ali Hosni
 * 🇮🇶 Dhurgham Ismail
 * 🇮🇶 Mahdi Kamel
 * 🇯🇵 Takuma Asano
 * 🇯🇵 Yasuyuki Konno
 * 🇯🇵 Masato Morishige
 * 🇯🇵 Takashi Usami
 * 🇯🇵 Hotaru Yamaguchi
 * 🇯🇴 Munther Abu Amarah
 * 🇯🇴 Yaseen Al-Bakhit
 * 🇯🇴 Yousef Al-Naber
 * 🇯🇴 Yousef Al-Rawashdeh
 * 🇯🇴 Baha' Faisal
 * 🇯🇴 Ahmed Samir
 * Ali Maqseed
 * Aziz Mashaan
 * Faisal Zayid
 * 🇰🇬 Ildar Amirov
 * 🇰🇬 Edgar Bernhardt
 * 🇰🇬 Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov
 * 🇰🇬 Almazbek Mirzaliev
 * Roda Antar
 * Abbas Ahmed Atwi
 * Hilal El-Helwe
 * Mohammed Ghaddar
 * Ali Hamam
 * Youssef Mohamad
 * Joan Oumari
 * Feiz Shamsin
 * 🇲🇴 Leong Ka Hang
 * Mohd Amri Yahyah
 * Baddrol Bakhtiar
 * Mohd Safiq Rahim
 * Safee Sali
 * 🇲🇻 Asadhulla Abdulla
 * 🇲🇻 Naiz Hassan
 * 🇲🇻 Ahmed Nashid
 * Batmönkhiin Erkhembayar
 * Kyaw Ko Ko
 * Kyaw Zayar Win
 * Suan Lam Mang
 * Zaw Min Tun
 * 🇰🇵 Jang Kuk-chol
 * 🇰🇵 Ro Hak-su
 * 🇰🇵 So Kyong-jin
 * 🇰🇵 So Hyon-uk
 * Mohammed Al-Ghassani
 * Saad Al-Mukhaini
 * Qasim Said
 * Raed Ibrahim Saleh
 * 🇵🇰 Hassan Bashir
 * Mus'ab Al-Batat
 * Ahmed Awad
 * Abdelatif Bahdari
 * Matías Jadue
 * Pablo Tamburrini
 * Khader Yousef
 * Manuel Ott
 * Javier Patiño
 * Stephan Schröck
 * 🇶🇦 Ahmed Abdul Maqsoud
 * 🇶🇦 Akram Afif
 * 🇶🇦 Abdelkarim Hassan
 * 🇶🇦 Ismaeel Mohammad
 * Salem Al-Dawsari
 * Salman Al-Faraj
 * Salman Al-Moasher
 * Nasser Al-Shamrani
 * Omar Hawsawi
 * Osama Hawsawi
 * Naif Hazazi
 * Faris Ramli
 * 🇰🇷 Hong Jeong-ho
 * 🇰🇷 Ji Dong-won
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Jeong-hyeop
 * Subash Madushan
 * 🇸🇾 Moayad Ajan
 * 🇸🇾 Oday Al-Jafal
 * 🇸🇾 Ahmad Kallasi
 * 🇸🇾 Omar Midani
 * 🇹🇯 Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev
 * 🇹🇭 Kroekrit Thaweekarn
 * Patrick Fabiano
 * Jairo Neto
 * Rodrigo Silva
 * 🇹🇲 Serdaraly Ataýew
 * 🇹🇲 Artur Geworkýan
 * 🇹🇲 Ruslan Mingazow
 * 🇹🇲 Süleýman Muhadow
 * 🇹🇲 Mekan Saparow
 * Mohamed Ahmed
 * Ismail Al Hammadi
 * Ahmed Al Hashmi
 * Habib Fardan
 * Ismail Matar
 * Abdullah Mousa
 * Mohanad Salem
 * 🇺🇿 Stanislav Andreev
 * 🇺🇿 Server Djeparov
 * 🇺🇿 Azizbek Haydarov
 * 🇺🇿 Egor Krimets
 * 🇺🇿 Eldor Shomurodov
 * 🇺🇿 Otabek Shukurov
 * Đinh Tiến Thành
 * Trần Phi Sơn
 * 🇾🇪 Abdulwasea Al-Matari
 * 🇾🇪 Ala Al-Sasi
 * 🇾🇪 Mohammed Boqshan


 * 1 own goal


 * 🇦🇫 Sharif Mukhammad (playing against Japan)
 * Khoun Laboravy (playing against Japan)
 * Leng Makara (playing against Syria)
 * 🇨🇳 Zheng Zhi (playing against South Korea)
 * 🇰🇬 Ildar Amirov (playing against Australia)
 * 🇰🇬 Valery Kichin (playing against Bangladesh)
 * Ali Hamam (playing against South Korea)
 * Zaw Min Tun (playing against Kuwait)
 * 🇸🇾 Hamdi Al Masri (playing against Japan)
 * 🇹🇭 Tanaboon Kesarat (playing against Saudi Arabia)
 * 🇹🇲 Serdar Annaorazow (playing against Guam)
 * 🇹🇲 Mekan Saparow (playing against Oman)
 * Đinh Tiến Thành (playing against Thailand)