2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC First Round

The AFC first round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, which also served as the first round of 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, was played from 6 to 11 June 2019.[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.

The six losers were eligible to enter the cancelled 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup.

Seeding

The draw for the first round was held on 17 April 2019 at 11:00 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[2]

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of April 2019 (shown in parentheses below).[3] Teams from Pot A would host the first leg.

Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.

Pot A Pot B
  1.  Malaysia (168)
  2.  Cambodia (173)
  3.  Macau (183)
  4.  Laos (184)
  5.  Bhutan (186)
  6.  Mongolia (187)
  1.  Bangladesh (188)
  2.  Guam (193)
  3.  Brunei (194)
  4.  Timor-Leste (195)[note 1]
  5.  Pakistan (200)
  6.  Sri Lanka (202)

Summary

The first legs were played on 6–7 June, and the second legs on 11 June 2019.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mongolia  3–2  Brunei 2–0 1–2
Macau  1–3[note 2]  Sri Lanka 1–0 0–3 (awd.)
Laos  0–1  Bangladesh 0–1 0–0
Malaysia  12–2  Timor-Leste 7–1 5–1
Cambodia  4–1  Pakistan 2–0 2–1
Bhutan  1–5  Guam 1–0 0–5

Matches
Mongolia 2–0 Brunei
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 1,685
Brunei 2–1 Mongolia
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 17,210
Referee: Ahmad Yacoub Ibrahim (Jordan)

Mongolia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Macau 1–0 Sri Lanka
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Zhuhai Sports Center Stadium, Zhuhai (China)[note 3]
Attendance: 901
Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)

Sri Lanka won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Laos 0–1 Bangladesh
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 4,572
Referee: Ho Wai Sing (Hong Kong)
Bangladesh 0–0 Laos
Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 7,453
Referee: Timur Faizullin (Kyrgyzstan)

Bangladesh won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Malaysia 7–1 Timor-Leste
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 4,244
Referee: Sherzod Kasimov (Uzbekistan)
Timor-Leste 1–5 Malaysia
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 12,776
Referee: Yusuke Araki (Japan)

Malaysia won 12–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Cambodia 2–0 Pakistan
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 33,706
Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia)
Pakistan 1–2 Cambodia
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 300
Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Cambodia won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Bhutan 1–0 Guam
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Omar Al-Yaqoubi (Oman)
Guam 5–0 Bhutan
 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Attendance: 1,029
Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)

Guam won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Goalscorers

There were 32 goals scored in 11 matches, for an average of 2.91 goals per match.

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Notes
  1. Timor-Leste was barred from participating in the Asian Cup qualification after being found to have fielded a total of 12 ineligible players in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches among other competitions.[4] However, as FIFA had not barred them from the World Cup qualifiers, Timor-Leste was still allowed to enter the competition, but was ineligible to qualify for the Asian Cup.
  2. Macau did not send their team for the second leg due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[5] The AFC referred the matter to FIFA,[6] which announced on 27 June 2019 that the match was declared a 3–0 forfeit victory to Sri Lanka, and consequently qualifying Sri Lanka to the second round.[7]
  3. Macau played their home match against Sri Lanka in Zhuhai, China, due to ongoing maintenance of Estádio Campo Desportivo.[8]
  4. The home match of Malaysia against Timor-Leste, originally to be played on 6 June 2019, was later postponed due to Eid al-Fitr celebrations following a request from the Football Association of Malaysia.[9]
  5. Timor-Leste played their home match against Malaysia in the latter country due to a lack of a suitable venue in their country.[10]
  6. Pakistan played their home match against Cambodia in Qatar.[11]

References
  1. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2019" (PDF). AFC. 21 March 2019.
  2. "Draw sets out path for Asian aspirants". FIFA.com. 17 April 2019.
  3. "FIFA Men's Ranking – April 2019 (AFC)". FIFA.com. 4 April 2019.
  4. "Federação Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". AFC. 20 January 2017.
  5. "Football - Macau not sending team to Sri Lanka due to security concerns". Reuters. 8 June 2019.
  6. "AFC Statement". AFC. 10 June 2019.
  7. "FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions Macau Football Association". FIFA.com. 27 June 2019.
  8. "RAEM recorre a estádio de Zhuhai para receber Sri Lanka". Tribuna de Macau. 24 May 2019.
  9. "Venue for Malaysia-Timor Leste second leg confirmed". Goal.com. 10 May 2019.
  10. "Timor-Leste yet to confirm venue for 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers game against Malaysia – AFC". Fox Sports Asia. 3 May 2019.
  11. "Pakistan name preliminary squad for Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". Ghana Soccernet. 28 April 2019.
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