1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

The Asian Football Confederation was allocated two assured qualifying berths for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. 26 teams were in the running for these spots; Bahrain, India, Maldives and South Yemen withdrew without playing a qualifying match.

Asia's two automatic qualifying berths were taken by Korea Republic and the United Arab Emirates.

Format

• First Round: The Maldives withdrew before the final draw, leaving 25 teams to be divided into 6 groups of 4 or 5 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, except in Group 4, where the teams played against each other twice in South Korea and Singapore. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
• Final Round: The 6 teams played against each other once over a 16 day period based in Singapore. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.

First round

Group 1

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Qatar 6 3 3 0 8 3 +5 9  Iraq 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 8  Jordan 6 2 1 3 5 7 −2 5  Oman 6 0 2 4 2 11 −9 2

Iraq  – 4 – 0 3 – 1 2 – 2 Jordan  0 – 1 – 2 – 0 1 – 1 Oman  1 – 1 0 – 2 – 0 – 0 Qatar  1 – 0 1 – 0 3 – 0 –

Qatar advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Saudi Arabia 4 3 1 0 7 4 +3 7  Syria 4 2 1 1 7 5 +2 5  North Yemen 4 0 0 4 0 5 −5 0  Bahrain Withdrew

Bahrain  – X – X X – X X – X North Yemen  X – X – 0 – 1 0 – 1 Saudi Arabia  X – X 1 – 0 – 5 – 4 Syria  X – X 2 – 0 0 – 0 –

Saudi Arabia advanced to the Final Round.

Group 3

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  United Arab Emirates 4 3 0 1 12 4 +8 6  Kuwait 4 3 0 1 6 3 +3 6  Pakistan 4 0 0 4 1 12 −11 0  South Yemen Withdrew

Kuwait  – 2 – 0 X – X 3 – 2 Pakistan  0 – 1 – X – X 1 – 4 South Yemen  X – X X – X – X – X United Arab Emirates  1 – 0 5 – 0 X – X –

United Arab Emirates advanced to the Final Round.

Group 4

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  South Korea 6 6 0 0 25 0 +25 12  Malaysia 6 3 1 2 8 8 0 7  Singapore 6 2 1 3 12 9 +3 5    Nepal 6 0 0 6 0 28 −28 0  India Withdrew

India  – X – X X – X X – X X – X South Korea  X – X – 3 – 0 9 – 0 3 – 0 Malaysia  X – X 0 – 3 – 3 – 0 1 – 0 Nepal    X – X 0 – 4 0 – 2 – 0 – 3 Singapore  X – X 0 – 3 2 – 2 7 – 0 –

Korea Republic advanced to the Final Round.

Group 5

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts China 6 5 0 1 13 3 +10 10  Iran 6 5 0 1 12 5 +7 10  Bangladesh 6 1 0 5 4 9 −5 2  Thailand 6 1 0 5 2 14 −12 2

Bangladesh  – 0 – 2 1 – 2 3 – 1 China PR  2 – 0 – 2 – 0 2 – 0 Iran  1 – 0 3 – 2 – 3 – 0 Thailand  1 – 0 0 – 3 0 – 3 –

China PR advanced to the Final Round.

Group 6

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  North Korea 6 4 1 1 11 5 +6 9  Japan 6 2 3 1 7 3 +4 7  Indonesia 6 1 3 2 5 10 −5 5  Hong Kong 6 0 3 3 5 10 −5 3

Hong Kong  – 1 – 1 0 – 0 1 – 2 Indonesia  3 – 2 – 0 – 0 0 – 0 Japan  0 – 0 5 – 0 – 2 – 1 North Korea  4 – 1 2 – 1 2 – 0 –

Korea DPR advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Standings

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  South Korea 5 3 2 0 5 1 +4 8  United Arab Emirates 5 1 4 0 4 3 +1 6  Qatar 5 1 3 1 4 5 −1 5 China 5 2 0 3 5 6 −1 4  Saudi Arabia 5 1 2 2 4 5 −1 4  North Korea 5 1 1 3 2 4 −2 3

Korea Republic and the United Arab Emirates qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Notes

External links

• Asian Zone at FIFA.com