2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round
Tournament details
Dates	11 June 2015 – 29 March 2016
Teams	39 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	152
Goals scored	507 (3.34 per match)
Attendance	2,293,258 (15,087 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mohammad Al-Sahlawi; (14 goals)
	← 2014 2022 →

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.^[1]

Format[edit]

A total of forty 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 sixteen highest ranked teams eliminated in the second round, and the eight teams that advanced from the play-off round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification which were contested by the remaining twelve teams eliminated in the second round.^[2]

Seeding[edit]

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.^[3]^[4]

The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of April 2015 (shown in parentheses below).^[5] The 40 teams were seeded into five pots:^[6]

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.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Iran (40) Japan (50) South Korea (57) Australia (63) United Arab Emirates (68)^{[note 2]} Uzbekistan (73) China (82) Iraq (86)	Saudi Arabia (95) Oman (97) Qatar (99) Jordan (103) Bahrain (108) Vietnam (125) Syria (126) Kuwait (127)	Afghanistan (135) Philippines (139) Palestine (140) Maldives (141) Thailand (142) Tajikistan (143) Lebanon (144) India (147)
Pot 4	Pot 5
East Timor (152) Kyrgyzstan (153) North Korea (157) Myanmar (158) Turkmenistan (159) Indonesia (159) (D) Singapore (162) Bhutan (163)	Malaysia (164) Hong Kong (167) Bangladesh (167) Yemen (170) Guam (175) Laos (178) Cambodia (179) Chinese Taipei (179)

Notes

Bolded teams qualified for the third round.
(D): Disqualified after draw

Groups[edit]

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):^[7] Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) Overall goal difference Overall goals scored Points in matches between tied teams Goal difference in matches between tied teams Goals scored in matches between tied teams Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format) Fair play points first yellow card: minus 1 point indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points direct red card: minus 4 points yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saudi Arabia	8	6	2	0	28	4	+24	20	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	2–1	3–2	2–0	7–0^[a]
2	United Arab Emirates^[b]	8	5	2	1	27	4	+23	17	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	1–1	—	2–0	10–0	8–0
3	Palestine	8	4	2	2	24	5	+19	14	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–0	0–0	—	6–0	7–0
4	Malaysia	8	2	0	6	7	29	−22	6	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round	0–3^[c]	1–2	0–6	—	3–0^[a]
5	East Timor^[a]	8	0	0	8	0	44	−44	0	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round	0–10	0–3^[a]	0–3^[a]	0–3^[a]	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Timor-Leste forfeited five group matches due to fielding numerous ineligible players.^[8] The original results were: Malaysia 1–1 Timor-Leste; Timor-Leste 0–1 United Arab Emirates; Saudi Arabia 7–0 Timor-Leste; Timor-Leste 1–1 Palestine; Timor-Leste 0–1 Malaysia.
^ United Arab Emirates already qualified for the Asian Cup as the host nation.
^ The Malaysia v Saudi Arabia match was awarded as 0–3, after being abandoned at 1–2 after a group of supporters threw objects onto the pitch.^[9]^[10]

11 June 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Malaysia	3–0 Forfeited^{[note 3]}	East Timor
Safee 34'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Saro 90+3'

Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

11 June 2015^{[note 4]}

21:00 UTC+3

Saudi Arabia	3–2	Palestine
Al-Shehri 6' Al-Sahlawi 46', 90+4'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Tamburrini 51' Jadue 90+1'

Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam

Attendance: 4,820

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

16 June 2015

16:00 UTC+8

East Timor	0–3 Forfeited^{[note 3]}	United Arab Emirates
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	O. Abdulrahman 80'

Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam (Malaysia)^{[note 5]}

Attendance: 200

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

16 June 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Malaysia	0–6	Palestine
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Al-Battat 9' Maraaba 22', 75' Seyam 41', 86' Yousef 63'

Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Kim Sang-woo (South Korea)

3 September 2015

19:15 UTC+4

United Arab Emirates	10–0	Malaysia
Salem 16' Mabkhout 22', 33', 76' Khalil 24', 29', 70', 78' Fardan 25' Ahmed 37'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 7,822

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

3 September 2015

20:40 UTC+3

Saudi Arabia	7–0 Forfeited^{[note 3]}	East Timor
Al-Shehri 2' Al-Sahlawi 23' (pen.), 26', 71' Al-Faraj 30' Al-Jassim 32' Al-Muwallad 73'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah

Attendance: 11,000

Referee: Timur Faizullin (Kyrgyzstan)

8 September 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Malaysia	0–3 Awarded^{[note 6]}	Saudi Arabia
Safiq 70'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Al-Jassim 73' Al-Sahlawi 76'

Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong)

8 September 2015

17:00 UTC+3

Palestine	0–0	United Arab Emirates
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Al-Ram

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Ali Sabah Adday Al-Qaysi (Iraq)

8 October 2015

16:00 UTC+9

East Timor	0–3 Forfeited^{[note 3]}	Palestine
Saro 54'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Abu Nahyeh 90+2'

Dili Municipal Stadium, Dili

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Kim Dong-jin (South Korea)

8 October 2015

20:00 UTC+3

Saudi Arabia	2–1	United Arab Emirates
Al-Sahlawi 45', 90' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Khalil 18'

King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah

Attendance: 32,482

Referee: Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari Bin Jahari (Singapore)

13 October 2015

16:00 UTC+9

East Timor	0–3 Forfeited^{[note 3]}	Malaysia
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Amri 10'

Dili Municipal Stadium, Dili

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)

9 November 2015^{[note 4]}

16:00 UTC+2

Palestine	0–0	Saudi Arabia
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Amman International Stadium, Amman (Jordan)^{[note 7]}

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

12 November 2015

16:00 UTC+2

Palestine	6–0	Malaysia
Cantillana 37' Abu Nahyeh 38', 45', 58' Seyam 88' Ihbeisheh 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Amman International Stadium, Amman (Jordan)^{[note 7]}

Attendance: 9,772

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

12 November 2015

18:15 UTC+4

United Arab Emirates	8–0	East Timor
Mabkhout 15', 19' Khalil 43', 53' (pen.), 56', 57' Ali 54' Al Hashmi 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 7,870

Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)

17 November 2015

16:00 UTC+9

East Timor	0–10	Saudi Arabia
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Al-Sahlawi 29' (pen.), 42', 55' (pen.), 70', 89' Hawsawi 34' Al-Shehri 35' Al-Jassim 85' Hazazi 90' Al-Muwallad 90+2'

Dili Municipal Stadium, Dili

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Alan Milliner (Australia)

17 November 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Malaysia	1–2	United Arab Emirates
Baddrol 59'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	O. Abdulrahman 22' Khalil 52'

Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam

Attendance: 100^{[note 6]}

Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)

24 March 2016

19:00 UTC+4

United Arab Emirates	2–0	Palestine
Al Hammadi 33' Khalil 60' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 15,822

Referee: Ben Williams (Australia)

24 March 2016

20:30 UTC+3

Saudi Arabia	2–0	Malaysia
Al-Sahlawi 50' Al-Jassim 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah

Attendance: 34,839

Referee: Kim Dong-jin (South Korea)

29 March 2016

17:00 UTC+3

Palestine	7–0	East Timor
Ihbeisheh 2' Cantillana 18', 66' Pinto 32', 39' Awad 77' Bahdari 90'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Dora International Stadium, Hebron

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

29 March 2016

19:00 UTC+4

United Arab Emirates	1–1	Saudi Arabia
O. Abdulrahman 52'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Al-Jassim 24'

Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 32,325

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Group B[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	8	7	0	1	29	4	+25	21	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	5–1	3–0	7–0	5–0
2	Jordan	8	5	1	2	21	7	+14	16	Asian Cup qualifying third round	2–0	—	0–0	3–0	8–0
3	Kyrgyzstan	8	4	2	2	10	8	+2	14	Asian Cup qualifying third round	1–2	1–0	—	2–2	2–0
4	Tajikistan	8	1	2	5	9	20	−11	5	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round	0–3	1–3	0–1	—	5–0
5	Bangladesh	8	0	1	7	2	32	−30	1	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round	0–4	0–4	1–3	1–1	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

11 June 2015

17:00 UTC+6

Bangladesh	1–3	Kyrgyzstan
Kichin 32' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Zemlianukhin 9', 41' Bernhardt 29' (pen.)

Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Sukhbir Singh (Singapore)

11 June 2015

20:00 UTC+5

Tajikistan	1–3	Jordan
M. Dzhalilov 66'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Abdel-Fattah 29', 63', 88'

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Attendance: 19,000

Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)

16 June 2015

17:00 UTC+6

Bangladesh	1–1	Tajikistan
Ameli 50'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Fatkhuloev 88'

Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Lee Min-hu (South Korea)

16 June 2015

20:00 UTC+6

Kyrgyzstan	1–2	Australia
Mirzaliev 90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Jedinak 2' Oar 68'

Spartak Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

3 September 2015

19:00 UTC+8

Australia	5–0	Bangladesh
Leckie 6' Rogic 8', 20' Burns 29' Mooy 61'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Perth Oval, Perth

Attendance: 19,495

Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)

3 September 2015

19:00 UTC+3

Jordan	0–0	Kyrgyzstan
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Amman International Stadium, Amman

Attendance: 5,012

Referee: Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia)

8 September 2015

17:00 UTC+6

Bangladesh	0–4	Jordan
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Deeb 13' (pen.), 56' Abu Amarah 33' Al-Bakhit 58'

Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)

8 September 2015

18:00 UTC+5

Tajikistan	0–3	Australia
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Milligan 57' Cahill 73', 90+1'

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Attendance: 19,000

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

8 October 2015

17:00 UTC+3

Jordan	2–0	Australia
Abdel-Fattah 47' (pen.) Al-Dardour 84'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Amman International Stadium, Amman

Attendance: 11,462

Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)

8 October 2015

20:00 UTC+6

Kyrgyzstan	2–2	Tajikistan
Duyshobekov 7' Zemlianukhin 90+4' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	M. Dzhalilov 65' Nazarov 71' (pen.)

Spartak Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 17,600

Referee: Mooud Bonyadifar (Iran)

13 October 2015

20:00 UTC+6

Kyrgyzstan	2–0	Bangladesh
Lux 27' Amirov 89'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Spartak Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 12,001

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

13 October 2015

19:00 UTC+3

Jordan	3–0	Tajikistan
Al-Dardour 65', 90+4' Abdel-Fattah 67'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Amman International Stadium, Amman

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Abdullah Al Hilali (Oman)

12 November 2015

20:00 UTC+11

Australia	3–0	Kyrgyzstan
Jedinak 40' (pen.) Cahill 50' Amirov 69' (o.g.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Canberra Stadium, Canberra

Attendance: 19,412

Referee: Kim Sang-woo (South Korea)

12 November 2015

17:00 UTC+5

Tajikistan	5–0	Bangladesh
M. Dzhalilov 16', 26', 59', 74' Nazarov 51' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Attendance: 5,500

Referee: Ali Sabah Adday Al-Qaysi (Iraq)

17 November 2015

17:30 UTC+6

Bangladesh	0–4	Australia
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Cahill 6', 32', 37' Jedinak 43'

Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 19,730

Referee: Wang Di (China)

17 November 2015

20:00 UTC+6

Kyrgyzstan	1–0	Jordan
Zemlianukhin 48'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Spartak Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 14,000

Referee: Çarymyrat Kurbanow (Turkmenistan)

24 March 2016

19:30 UTC+10:30

Australia	7–0	Tajikistan
Luongo 3' Jedinak 13' (pen.) Milligan 57' (pen.) Burns 67', 87' Rogic 70', 72'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Attendance: 35,439

Referee: Fahad Al-Marri (Qatar)

24 March 2016

14:30 UTC+2

Jordan	8–0	Bangladesh
Al-Dardour 7', 23', 40' Deeb 29' (pen.) Al-Rawashdeh 32' Faisal 63' Al-Naber 82' Samir 90+2' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Amman International Stadium, Amman

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari Bin Jahari (Singapore)

29 March 2016

20:00 UTC+11

Australia	5–1	Jordan
Cahill 24', 44' Mooy 39' Rogic 53' Luongo 69'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Deeb 90'

Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 24,975

Referee: Kim Jong-hyeok (South Korea)

29 March 2016

18:00 UTC+5

Tajikistan	0–1	Kyrgyzstan
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Lux 18'

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Attendance: 7,500

Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

Group C[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Qatar	8	7	0	1	29	4	+25	21	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	1–0	2–0	4–0	15–0
2	China	8	5	2	1	27	1	+26	17	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	2–0	—	0–0	4–0	12–0
3	Hong Kong	8	4	2	2	13	5	+8	14	Asian Cup qualifying third round	2–3	0–0	—	2–0	7–0
4	Maldives	8	2	0	6	8	20	−12	6	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round	0–1	0–3	0–1	—	4–2
5	Bhutan	8	0	0	8	5	52	−47	0	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round	0–3	0–6	0–1	3–4	—

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

11 June 2015

20:00 UTC+8

Hong Kong	7–0	Bhutan
McKee 19', 57' Christian 23' Lo Kwan Yee 30' Ju Yingzhi 42' Lam Ka Wai 49' (pen.) Godfred 67'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 6,326

Referee: Çarymyrat Kurbanow (Turkmenistan)

11 June 2015

21:00 UTC+5

Maldives	0–1	Qatar
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Abdul Maqsoud 90+8'

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 9,000

Referee: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan)

16 June 2015

18:00 UTC+6

Bhutan	0–6	China
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Yang Xu 45+2', 60', 76' Wu Lei 55' Yu Dabao 67', 83'

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Rowan Arumughan (India)

16 June 2015

20:00 UTC+8

Hong Kong	2–0	Maldives
Xu Deshuai 63' Lam Ka Wai 67'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 6,370

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

3 September 2015

19:35 UTC+8

China	0–0	Hong Kong
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Bao'an Stadium, Shenzhen

Attendance: 26,173

Referee: Strebre Delovski (Australia)

3 September 2015

19:00 UTC+3

Qatar	15–0	Bhutan
Musa 8', 28' Kasola 18' Assadalla 21', 45', 63' Al-Haydos 25', 87' Muntari 37', 41', 48' Afif 57' Khoukhi 62', 70' Mohammad 75'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 2,022

Referee: Mohammad Abu Loum (Jordan)

8 September 2015

19:35 UTC+8

Maldives	0–3	China
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Yu Dabao 8', 57' Zhang Linpeng 66'

Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Shenyang (China PR)^{[note 8]}

Attendance: 28,036

Referee: Sukhbir Singh (Singapore)

8 September 2015

20:00 UTC+8

Hong Kong	2–3	Qatar
Bai He 87' Godfred 89'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Boudiaf 22' Hassan 62' Musa 84'

Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 6,396

Referee: Kim Sang-woo (South Korea)

8 October 2015

18:00 UTC+6

Bhutan	3–4	Maldives
Dorji 85' Gyeltshen 88' Basnet 90+1'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Nashid 11' Ashfaq 23', 33', 57' (pen.)

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (Bangladesh)

8 October 2015

18:30 UTC+3

Qatar	1–0	China
Boudiaf 22'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 7,730

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

13 October 2015

18:00 UTC+6

Bhutan	0–1	Hong Kong
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Chan Siu Ki 89'

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 7,280

Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

13 October 2015

18:30 UTC+3

Qatar	4–0	Maldives
Khoukhi 28', 70' Kasola 69' Musa 90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 4,006

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

12 November 2015

15:50 UTC+5

Maldives	0–1	Hong Kong
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Paulinho 13' (pen.)

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Ammar Al-Jeneibi (United Arab Emirates)

12 November 2015

19:35 UTC+8

China	12–0	Bhutan
Mei Fang 10' Yang Xu 13', 21' (pen.), 37', 52' Yu Dabao 16', 39' Yu Hanchao 34', 72' Wang Yongpo 66', 81' Zhang Xizhe 88'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Helong Stadium, Changsha

Attendance: 27,358

Referee: Marai Al-Awaji (Saudi Arabia)

17 November 2015

18:00 UTC+6

Bhutan	0–3	Qatar
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Muntari 22' Al-Haydos 36', 90'

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 4,128

Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

17 November 2015

20:00 UTC+8

Hong Kong	0–0	China
	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 6,071

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

24 March 2016

19:35 UTC+8

China	4–0	Maldives
Jiang Ning 2', 84', 90+1' Yang Xu 12'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan

Attendance: 32,618

Referee: Ali Sabah Adday Al-Qaysi (Iraq)

24 March 2016

19:00 UTC+3

Qatar	2–0	Hong Kong
Al-Haydos 20' Soria 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 10,170

Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)

29 March 2016

20:15 UTC+8

China	2–0	Qatar
Huang Bowen 57' Wu Lei 88'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)

Shaanxi Province Stadium, Xi'an

Attendance: 46,718

Referee: Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia)

29 March 2016

21:00 UTC+5

Maldives	4–2	Bhutan
Asadhulla 37' Ashfaq 81' (pen.), 90+4' Niyaz 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Gyeltshen 7' Dorji 48' (pen.)

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 4,102

Referee: Kim Sang-woo (South Korea)

Group D[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	8	6	2	0	26	3	+23	20	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	2–0	3–1	6–0	4–0
2	Oman	8	4	2	2	11	7	+4	14	Asian Cup qualifying third round	1–1	—	3–1	1–0	3–0
3	Turkmenistan	8	4	1	3	10	11	−1	13		1–1	2–1	—	1–0	2–1
4	Guam	8	2	1	5	3	16	−13	7		0–6	0–0	1–0	—	2–1
5	India	8	1	0	7	5	18	−13	3	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round	0–3^[a]	1–2	1–2	1–0	—