2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for Asia.

44 Asian teams are affiliated with FIFA, but Cambodia, Philippines, Bhutan and Brunei decided not to take part, and Myanmar was banned from the competition, so a total of 39 teams took part, competing for 4.5 places in the World Cup.

The qualification was composed of three rounds. Only the 14 last ranked teams according to FIFA took part in the Preliminary Round, where they were paired 2-by-2 and played home-and-away knock-out matches. The 7 winners joined the other 25 teams in the Second Round, where those 32 teams were divided in 8 groups of four teams each. The teams in each group would play against each other home-and-away, and the team with most points in each group would advance to the Third Round.

In the Third Round, the 8 remaining teams were divided in two groups of 4 teams each, that would again play against each other in a home-and-away basis. The two teams with most points in each group would qualify to the World Cup. The two third placed teams would play-off against each other home-and-away. Winner of this play-off would play against the fourth placed team in the Final Round of CONCACAF in an intercontinental play-off for a place in the World Cup.

Tiebreakers

If teams are even on points at the end of group play, the tied teams will be ranked as follows:

1. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
2. goal difference in matches between the tied teams
3. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams
4. goal difference in all group matches
5. greater number of goals scored in all group matches
6. a play-off on neutral ground, with extra time and penalties if necessary (in qualifying)
7. drawing of lots (at the final event)

This is a change from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where total goal difference was the first tiebreaker.

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Turkmenistan	13–0	Afghanistan	11–0	2–0
Chinese Taipei	6–1	Macau	3–0	3–1
Bangladesh	0–4	Tajikistan	0–2	0–2
Laos	0–3	Sri Lanka	0–0	0–3
Pakistan	0–6	Kyrgyzstan	0–2	0–4
Mongolia	0–13	Maldives	0–1	0–12

Guam and Nepal were scheduled to play against each other on November 21 and 25; Nepal withdrew, so Guam progressed to the 2nd round, but Guam later withdrew.

FIFA then decided to elect a "lucky loser", to select the best of the teams that lost, to advance to the Second Round.

The losers were compared, using the following criteria to break ties: a) number of points; b) goal difference; c) goals scored.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Laos	2	0	1	1	0	3	−3	1
Bangladesh	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	0
Macau	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0
Pakistan	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	0
Afghanistan	2	0	0	2	0	13	−13	0
Mongolia	2	0	0	2	0	13	−13	0

 Laos advanced to the Second Round.

Second round

In the second round, the 25 teams who received byes, as well as the 7 play-off round winners, were split into eight groups of four teams each. Teams played home-and-away games with the other teams in their group, and the top-ranked team qualified for the third round.

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Iran 6 5 0 1 22 4 +18 15  Jordan 6 4 0 2 10 6 +4 12  Qatar 6 3 0 3 16 8 +8 9  Laos 6 0 0 6 3 33 −30 0   Iran  – 0–1 7–0 3–1 Jordan  0–2 – 5–0 1–0 Laos  0–7 2–3 – 1–6 Qatar  2–3 2–0 5–0 –

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Uzbekistan 6 5 1 0 16 3 +13 16  Iraq 6 3 2 1 17 7 +10 11  Palestine 6 2 1 3 11 11 0 7  Chinese Taipei 6 0 0 6 3 26 −23 0   Iraq  – 4–1 6–1 1–2 Palestine  1–1 – 8–0 0–3 Chinese Taipei  1–4 0–1 – 0–1 Uzbekistan  1–1 3–0 6–1 –

Group 3

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Japan 6 6 0 0 16 1 +15 18  Oman 6 3 1 2 14 3 +11 10  India 6 1 1 4 2 18 −16 4  Singapore 6 1 0 5 3 13 −10 3   India  – 0–4 1–5 1–0 Japan  7–0 – 1–0 1–0 Oman  0–0 0–1 – 7–0 Singapore  2–0 1–2 0–2 –

Group 4

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Kuwait 6 5 0 1 15 2 +13 15  China PR 6 5 0 1 14 1 +13 15  Hong Kong 6 2 0 4 5 15 −10 6  Malaysia 6 0 0 6 2 18 −16 0   China PR  – 7–0 1–0 4–0 Hong Kong  0–1 – 0–2 2–0 Kuwait  1–0 4–0 – 6–1 Malaysia  0–1 1–3 0–2 –

Group 5

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  North Korea 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 11  United Arab Emirates 6 3 1 2 6 6 0 10  Thailand 6 2 1 3 9 10 −1 7  Yemen 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 5   North Korea  – 4–1 0–0 2–1 Thailand  1–4 – 3–0 1–1 United Arab Emirates  1–0 1–0 – 3–0 Yemen  1–1 0–3 3–1 –

Group 6

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Bahrain 6 4 2 0 15 4 +11 14  Syria 6 2 2 2 7 7 0 8  Tajikistan 6 2 1 3 5 9 −4 7  Kyrgyzstan 6 1 1 4 5 12 −7 4   Bahrain  – 5–0 2–1 4–0 Kyrgyzstan  1–2 – 1–1 1–2 Syria  2–2 0–1 – 2–1 Tajikistan  0–0 2–1 0–1 –

Group 7

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  South Korea 6 4 2 0 9 2 +7 14  Lebanon 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 11  Vietnam 6 1 1 4 5 9 −4 4  Maldives 6 1 1 4 5 14 −9 4   South Korea  – 2–0 2–0 2–0 Lebanon  1–1 – 3–0 0–0 Maldives  0–0 2–5 – 3–0 Vietnam  1–2 0–2 4–0 –

Group 8

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Saudi Arabia 6 6 0 0 14 1 +13 18  Turkmenistan 6 2 1 3 8 10 –2 7  Indonesia 6 2 1 3 8 12 –4 7  Sri Lanka 6 0 2 4 4 11 −7 2   Indonesia  – 1–3 1–0 3–1 Saudi Arabia  3–0 – 3–0 3–0 Sri Lanka  2–2 0–1 – 2–2 Turkmenistan  3–1 0–1 2–0 –

Third round

In the third round, the 8 teams who won their groups in the earlier round were split into two groups of four teams each. Teams played home-and-away games with the other teams in their group, and the top two teams qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, the third-placed teams entered a play-off to determine who would contest the AFC–CONCACAF play-off.

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Saudi Arabia 6 4 2 0 10 1 +9 14  South Korea 6 3 1 2 9 5 +4 10  Uzbekistan 6 1 2 3 7 11 −4 5  Kuwait 6 1 1 4 4 13 −9 4   South Korea  – 2–0 0–1 2–1 Kuwait  0–4 – 0–0 2–1 Saudi Arabia  2–0 3–0 – 3–0 Uzbekistan  1–1 3–2 1–1 –

• Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
• Uzbekistan advanced to the AFC playoffs.

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Japan 6 5 0 1 9 4 +5 15  Iran 6 4 1 1 7 3 +4 13  Bahrain 6 1 1 4 4 7 −3 4  North Korea 6 1 0 5 5 11 −6 3   Bahrain  – 0–0 0–1 2–3 Iran  1–0 – 2–1 1–0 Japan  1–0 2–1 – 2–1 North Korea  1–2 0–2 0–2 –

• Japan and Iran qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
• Bahrain advanced to the AFC playoffs.

Fourth round

Teams finishing 3rd in the third round groups played each other to determine a possible 5th qualifier from Asia.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Uzbekistan	1–1 (a)	Bahrain	1–1	0–0

Bahrain advanced to the AFC–CONCACAF play-off on the away goals rule.

AFC–CONCACAF play-off

The Fourth Round winner then played the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF qualifying group, Trinidad and Tobago, in a home-and-away play-off. The winner of this play-off qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Trinidad and Tobago	2–1	Bahrain	1–1	1–0

As a result, Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while Bahrain were eliminated.

Goalscorers

9 goals

Ali Daei

6 goals

A'ala Hubail Lee Dong-gook

Ali Ashfaq

Begençmuhammet Kulyýew

5 goals

Husain Ali Ilham Jaya Kesuma

Bashar Abdullah

Maksim Shatskikh

4 goals

Vahid Hashemian Hong Yong-jo

Bader Al-Mutwa Badar Al-Maimani

Yasser Al-Qahtani Alexander Geynrikh

3 goals

Talal Yousef Hao Haidong Li Jinyu Huang Wei-yi Javad Nekounam Razzaq Farhan Qusay Munir Takashi Fukunishi Mitsuo Ogasawara

Takayuki Suzuki Badran Al Shagran Roda Antar Ali Nasseredine Sergey Chikishev Ibrahim Fazeel Ahmed Thoriq Roberto Kettlun Saad Al-Harthi

Sami Al-Jaber Ibrahim Sowed Rejepmyrat Agabaýew Guwançmuhammet Öwekow Mohamed Omer Server Djeparov Server Mirjalol Qosimov Anvarjon Soliev Phan Văn Tài Em

2 goals

Li Xiaopeng Shao Jiayi Chen Jui-te Chu Siu Kei P. Renedy Singh Arash Borhani Reza Enayati Mehdi Mahdavikia Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht Ebrahim Taghipour Salih Sadir Ahmad Mnajed Tatsuhiko Kubo Yuji Nakazawa Masashi Oguro An Yong-hak

Kim Yong-su Kim Do-heon Lee Young-pyo Park Chu-young Mesaed Al Enezi Faraj Laheeb Evgeny Boldygin Mohamed Nizam Ahmed Mubarak Mohamed Al Hinai Amad Ali Khalifa Ayil Al-Naufli Taysir Amar Safwan Habaib Sayed Ali Bechir Mubarak Fazli Waleed Hamzah

Waleed Jassem Talal Al-Meshal Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Mohammed Noor Indra Sahdan Daud Raja Rafe Yousef Shekh Eleshra Pirmurod Burkhanov Numonjon Hakimov Akmal Kholmatov Yusuf Rabiev Kiatisuk Senamuang Nazar Bayramov Wladimir Baýramow Leonid Koshelev Ali Al Nono

1 goal

Duaij Naser Abdulla Mohamed Hubail Mohamed Husain Salman Isa Sayed Mahfoodh Li Weifeng Sun Jihai Xu Yunlong Yu Genwei Chang Wu-yeh Chiang Shih-lu Chuang Yao-tsung Kwok Yue Hung Ng Wai Chiu Wong Chun Yue Elie Aiboy Ismed Sofyan Budi Sudarsono Mohammad Nosrati Rahman Rezaei Nashat Akram Ahmad Salah Alwan Saad Attiya Hussam Fawzi Younis Mahmoud Emad Mohammed Jassim Swadi Toshiya Fujita Akira Kaji Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Shunsuke Nakamura Shinji Ono Naohiro Takahara Keiji Tamada Atsushi Yanagisawa Abdelhadi Al Maharmeh Haitham Al Shboul Hatem Aqel Moayad Mansour Awad Ragheb Mustafa Shehdeh Mahmoud Shelbaieh An Chol-hyok Choe Chol-man

Kim Chol-ho Nam Song-chol Ri Han-jae Ri Hyok-chol Pak Song-gwan Sin Yong-nam Ahn Jung-hwan Cha Du-ri Cho Byung-kuk Choi Jin-cheul Lee Chun-soo Park Ji-sung Abdul Al Dawood Fahad Al Hamad Hamad Al Harbi Waleed Jumah Nawaf Humaidan Husain Seraj Vyacheslav Amin Valeri Berezovsky Vladimir Chertkov Azamat Ishenbaev Emil Kenjisariev Andrey Krasnov Phutthadavong Chanthalome Visay Phaphouvanin Sengphet Thongphachan Faysal Antar Mahmoud Chahoud Khaled Hamieh Haitham Zein Fu Weng Lei Rosdi Talib Mohd Amri Yahyah Assad Ghani Mohamed Nazeeh Ali Umar Ahmed Al Mukhaini Yousef Shaaban Francisco Alam Ziyad Al-Kord Ahmed Keshkesh Imad Zatara Meshal Abdullah Mohamed Salem Al Hamad

Nayef Al Khater Saad Al-Shammari Bilal Mohammed Nasser Kamil Mubarak Wesam Rizik Sami Al-Anbar Talal Al-Meshal Fahad Fallata Saud Kariri Omar Sulaimani Khairul Mohd Channa Ediri Mohamed Hameed Kasun Jayasuriya Dudley Steinwall Chandradasa Karunaratne Rathnayake Mudyanselage Isuru Perera Jehad Al-Hussain Mohamad Yehya Al Rashed Meaataz Kailouni Sukhrob Hamidov Sarayoot Chaikamdee Therdsak Chaiman Jiensathawong Jakapong Anon Nanok Niweat Siriwong Sutee Suksomkit Nirut Surasiang Dovlet Bayramov Omar Berdiýew Gurbangeldi Durdiyev Artem Nazarov Didargylyç Urazow Rashid Abdulrahman Saleh Obaid Mohamed Rashid Bakhtiyor Ashurmatov Marat Bikmaev Vladimir Shishelov Nguyễn Minh Hai Phạm Văn Quyến Radwan Abduljabar Akram Al Selwi Saleh Al-Shehri Fathi Jaber

Own goals

Mohamed Salmeen (playing against Japan) Yahya Golmohammadi (playing against Qatar)

Ebrahim Mirzapour (playing against Japan) Nitsavong Khoupchansy (playing against Iran)

Battulga Khishigdalai (playing against Maldives)

2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers AFC First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round (play-off for 5th place) CAF First Round Second Round CONCACAF First Round Second Round Third Round Fourth Round CONMEBOL Group Round OFC First Round Second Round (OFC Nations Cup) UEFA Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8 Play-offs Play-offs AFC v CONCACAF CONMEBOL v OFC