2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round

The second round of AFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification) was played from 24 May 2015 to 29 March 2016.

Format
A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–34 in the AFC entrant list and six first round winners) were 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 advanced to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals.

A total of 24 teams eliminated from World Cup qualification in the second round competed in the third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification (which was separated from the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification), where they were divided into six groups of four teams and competed for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The 24 teams consisted 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.

Seeding
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.

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of April 2015 (shown in parentheses below). The 40 teams were seeded into five pots:
 * Pot 1 contained the teams ranked 1–8.
 * Pot 2 contained the teams ranked 9–16.
 * Pot 3 contained the teams ranked 17–24.
 * Pot 4 contained the teams ranked 25–32.
 * Pot 5 contained the teams ranked 33–40.

Each group contained one team from each of the five pots. The fixtures of each group were automatically decided based on the respective pot of each team.

As the seeding order was based on the most recent FIFA Rankings prior to the draw, it differed from the order in the AFC entrant list, which was based on the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015. Among the six first round winners, three were seeded higher than pot 5 (India in pot 3, Timor-Leste and Bhutan in pot 4), on the basis of ranking points gained from the first round matches, while the other three (Yemen, Cambodia and Chinese Taipei) were seeded in pot 5.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the third round.

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 by 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.

Ranking of fourth-placed teams
To determine the four best fourth-placed 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 AFC Organizing Committee), with extra time and penalty shoot-out if necessary

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

Goalscorers
There were 507 goals scored in 152 matches, for an average of goals per match.


 * 14 goals


 * Mohammad Al-Sahlawi


 * 11 goals


 * Ahmed Khalil


 * 8 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Tim Cahill
 * 🇨🇳 Yang Xu


 * 7 goals


 * 🇮🇷 Sardar Azmoun
 * 🇸🇾 Omar Khribin


 * 6 goals


 * 🇨🇳 Yu Dabao
 * 🇯🇵 Keisuke Honda
 * 🇯🇴 Hamza Al-Dardour
 * 🇰🇷 Son Heung-min
 * 🇹🇯 Manuchekhr Dzhalilov


 * 5 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Tom Rogic
 * 🇮🇷 Mehdi Taremi
 * 🇯🇵 Shinji Kagawa
 * 🇯🇴 Hassan Abdel-Fattah
 * 🇲🇻 Ali Ashfaq
 * 🇶🇦 Hassan Al-Haidos
 * Taisir Al-Jassim
 * Ali Mabkhout
 * 🇺🇿 Sardor Rashidov


 * 4 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Mile Jedinak
 * 🇮🇶 Younis Mahmoud
 * 🇯🇵 Shinji Okazaki
 * 🇯🇴 Abdallah Deeb
 * Bader Al-Mutawa
 * Yousef Nasser
 * 🇰🇬 Anton Zemlianukhin
 * Ahmad Abu Nahyeh
 * 🇶🇦 Boualem Khoukhi
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Muntari
 * 🇶🇦 Mohammed Musa
 * 🇸🇾 Osama Omari
 * 🇺🇿 Igor Sergeev


 * 3 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Nathan Burns
 * 🇨🇳 Jiang Ning
 * 🇯🇵 Maya Yoshida
 * 🇱🇦 Khampheng Sayavutthi
 * 🇰🇵 Ri Hyok-chol
 * 🇰🇵 Jong Il-gwan
 * Jonathan Cantillana
 * Tamer Seyam
 * Misagh Bahadoran
 * 🇶🇦 Ali Assadalla
 * Yahya Al-Shehri
 * Safuwan Baharudin
 * Fazrul Nawaz
 * 🇰🇷 Kwon Chang-hoon
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Jae-sung
 * 🇸🇾 Mahmoud Al-Mawas
 * 🇸🇾 Sanharib Malki
 * 🇹🇭 Teerasil Dangda
 * 🇹🇲 Arslanmyrat Amanow
 * Omar Abdulrahman
 * 🇺🇿 Odil Ahmedov
 * Lê Công Vinh


 * 2 goals


 * 🇦🇫 Khaibar Amani
 * 🇦🇫 Norlla Amiri
 * 🇦🇫 Mustafa Zazai
 * 🇦🇺 Massimo Luongo
 * 🇦🇺 Mark Milligan
 * 🇦🇺 Aaron Mooy
 * 🇧🇭 Ismail Abdullatif
 * 🇧🇭 Abdulwahab Al-Malood
 * 🇧🇭 Sayed Mohamed Adnan
 * Tshering Dorji
 * Chencho Gyeltshen
 * 🇨🇳 Wang Yongpo
 * 🇨🇳 Wu Lei
 * 🇨🇳 Yu Hanchao
 * Wu Chun-ching
 * 🇭🇰 Godfred Karikari
 * 🇭🇰 Lam Ka Wai
 * 🇭🇰 Jaimes McKee
 * 🇮🇳 Sunil Chhetri
 * 🇮🇷 Ashkan Dejagah
 * 🇮🇷 Ehsan Hajsafi
 * 🇮🇶 Ali Adnan
 * 🇮🇶 Justin Meram
 * 🇯🇵 Mu Kanazaki
 * 🇰🇬 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
 * Fahad Al-Muwallad
 * Khairul Amri
 * 🇰🇷 Jang Hyun-soo
 * 🇰🇷 Ki Sung-yueng
 * 🇰🇷 Koo Ja-cheol
 * 🇰🇷 Suk Hyun-jun
 * 🇸🇾 Abdelrazaq Al Hussain
 * 🇸🇾 Raja Rafe
 * 🇹🇯 Akhtam Nazarov
 * 🇹🇭 Pokklaw Anan
 * 🇹🇭 Theerathon Bunmathan
 * 🇹🇭 Adisak Kraisorn
 * 🇹🇭 Mongkol Tossakrai
 * Ramon Saro
 * 🇹🇲 Guwanç Abylow
 * 🇺🇿 Alexander Geynrikh
 * 🇺🇿 Anzur Ismailov
 * Nguyễn Văn Toàn
 * 🇾🇪 Ahmed Al-Sarori


 * 1 goal


 * 🇦🇫 Faysal Shayesteh
 * 🇦🇫 Josef Shirdel
 * 🇦🇺 Mathew Leckie
 * 🇦🇺 Tommy Oar
 * 🇧🇭 Sami Al-Husaini
 * 🇧🇭 Hussain Ali Baba
 * 🇧🇭 Mohamed Al Romaihi
 * 🇧🇭 Abdullah Omar
 * Jahid Hasan Ameli
 * Biren Basnet
 * Sos Suhana
 * 🇨🇳 Huang Bowen
 * 🇨🇳 Mei Fang
 * 🇨🇳 Zhang Linpeng
 * 🇨🇳 Zhang Xizhe
 * Hung Kai-chun
 * 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
 * 🇮🇷 Jalal Hosseini
 * 🇮🇷 Alireza Jahanbakhsh
 * 🇮🇷 Kamal Kamyabinia
 * 🇮🇷 Morteza Pouraliganji
 * 🇮🇷 Ramin Rezaeian
 * 🇮🇷 Masoud Shojaei
 * 🇮🇷 Andranik Teymourian
 * 🇮🇷 Mehdi Torabi
 * 🇮🇶 Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
 * 🇮🇶 Ali Hosni
 * 🇮🇶 Dhurgham Ismail
 * 🇮🇶 Mahdi Kamel
 * 🇮🇶 Ahmed Yasin
 * 🇯🇵 Genki Haraguchi
 * 🇯🇵 Hiroshi Kiyotake
 * 🇯🇵 Masato Morishige
 * 🇯🇵 Takashi Usami
 * 🇯🇴 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
 * Mohd Amri Yahyah
 * Baddrol Bakhtiar
 * Mohd Safiq Rahim
 * Safee Sali
 * 🇲🇻 Asadhulla Abdulla
 * 🇲🇻 Naiz Hassan
 * 🇲🇻 Ahmed Nashid
 * Kyaw Ko Ko
 * Kyaw Zayar Win
 * Suan Lam Mang
 * Zaw Min Tun
 * 🇰🇵 Jang Kuk-chol
 * 🇰🇵 Ro Hak-su
 * 🇰🇵 So Hyon-uk
 * 🇰🇵 So Kyong-jin
 * Mohammed Al-Ghassani
 * Saad Al-Mukhaini
 * Qasim Said
 * Raed Ibrahim Saleh
 * Mus'ab Al-Batat
 * Ahmed Awad
 * Abdelatif Bahdari
 * Matías Jadue
 * Pablo Tamburrini
 * Khader Yousef
 * Manuel Ott
 * Javier Patiño
 * Stephan Schröck
 * 🇶🇦 Akram Afif
 * 🇶🇦 Abdelkarim Hassan
 * 🇶🇦 Ahmed Abdul Maqsoud
 * 🇶🇦 Ismaeel Mohammad
 * 🇶🇦 Sebastián Soria
 * Salman Al-Faraj
 * Osama Hawsawi
 * Naif Hazazi
 * Faris Ramli
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Chung-yong
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Jeong-hyeop
 * 🇰🇷 Nam Tae-hee
 * 🇸🇾 Moayad Ajan
 * 🇸🇾 Oday Al-Jafal
 * 🇸🇾 Ahmad Kallasi
 * 🇸🇾 Omar Midani
 * 🇹🇯 Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev
 * 🇹🇭 Tana Chanabut
 * 🇹🇭 Kroekrit Thaweekarn
 * 🇹🇲 Serdaraly Ataýew
 * 🇹🇲 Artur Geworkýan
 * 🇹🇲 Ruslan Mingazow
 * 🇹🇲 Süleýman Muhadow
 * 🇹🇲 Mekan Saparow
 * Mohamed Ahmed
 * Ismail Al Hammadi
 * Ahmed Al Hashmi
 * Habib Fardan
 * Abdullah Mousa
 * Mohanad Salem
 * 🇺🇿 Stanislav Andreev
 * 🇺🇿 Server Djeparov
 * 🇺🇿 Azizbek Haydarov
 * 🇺🇿 Eldor Shomurodov
 * Đinh Tiến Thành
 * Trần Phi Sơn


 * 1 own goal


 * 🇦🇫 Sharif Mukhammad (playing against Japan)
 * Khoun Laboravy (playing against Japan)
 * Leng Makara (playing against Syria)
 * 🇰🇬 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)
 * 🇹🇲 Serdar Annaorazow (playing against Guam)
 * 🇹🇲 Mekan Saparow (playing against Oman)
 * Đinh Tiến Thành (playing against Thailand)