2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round

The play-off round of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification was played from 2 June to 11 October 2016.

2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification-play-off round
Tournament details
Dates2 June 2016 & 6–7 June 2016
Teams11 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored45 (2.81 per match)
Attendance95,310 (5,957 per match)
Top scorer(s)India Jeje Lalpekhlua & Malaysia Ahmad Hazwan Bakri (3 Goals)
2015
2023

Format

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A total of 11 teams (the four lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams and the seven fifth-placed teams of the Asian Cup qualifying second round) competed in the play-off round. Originally, 12 teams were supposed to compete, but there were only seven instead of eight fifth-placed teams after Indonesia were disqualified due to FIFA suspension.[1]

The play-off round consisted of two rounds of home-and-away two-legged play-off matches to determine the final eight qualifiers for the Asian Cup qualifying third round:[2]

  • Round 1: The ten highest-seeded teams were drawn into five ties. The five winners advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round, while the five losers entered Round 2.
  • Round 2: The six teams (the lowest-seeded team and the five Round 1 losers) were drawn into three ties. The three winners advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round, while the three losers were eligible to enter the AFC Solidarity Cup.[3]

The five Round 1 winners and three Round 2 winners joined the 16 teams which advanced directly from the Asian Cup qualifying second round to the third round, to compete for the final 12 slots in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[4]

The three Round 2 losers joined the six teams which lost in the Asian Cup qualifying first round, to compete for the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.

Qualified teams

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Group
(2nd round)
Fourth place (Worst 4) Fifth place
A  Malaysia  East Timor
B  Tajikistan  Bangladesh
C  Maldives  Bhutan
D  India
E  Cambodia
F  Chinese Taipei
G  Laos
H  Yemen

Seeding

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The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 April 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[5]

The teams were seeded based on their results in the Asian Cup qualifying second round.[2]

In Round 1, each tie contained a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, with the team from Pot 1 hosting the first leg.

In Round 2, there were no seeding. As the draw was held before Round 1 was played, the identities of the Round 1 losers were not known at the time of the draw.

Round 1 Round 2
Pot 1 Pot 2

Matches

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Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 10.3).[4]

Round 1

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The first legs were played on 2 June, and the second legs were played on 6–7 June 2016.[2][6]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Chinese Taipei  2–4  Cambodia 2–2 0–2
Maldives  0–4  Yemen 0–2 0–2
Tajikistan  6–0  Bangladesh 5–0 1–0
Malaysia  6–0  East Timor 3–0
(Forfeited)
[7]
3–0
(Forfeited)
[7]
Laos  1–7  India 0–1 1–6

Note: Timor-Leste were ordered by the AFC to forfeit both matches against Malaysia due to the use of falsified documents for their players.[7] Both matches originally ended as 3–0 wins to Malaysia.

Chinese Taipei 2–2 Cambodia
Report
Attendance: 3,564
Cambodia 2–0 Chinese Taipei
Report
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Cambodia won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Chinese Taipei entered round 2.


Maldives 0–2 Yemen
Report
Yemen 2–0 Maldives
Report

Yemen won 4–0 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Maldives entered round 2.


Tajikistan 5–0 Bangladesh
Report
Attendance: 8,332
Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)
Bangladesh 0–1 Tajikistan
Report

Tajikistan won 6–0 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Bangladesh entered round 2.


Malaysia 3–0
Forfeited[7]
 East Timor
Report
East Timor 0–3
Forfeited[7]
 Malaysia
Report

Malaysia won 6–0 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Timor-Leste entered round 2.


Laos 0–1 India
Report
India 6–1 Laos
Report

India won 7–1 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Laos entered round 2.

Round 2

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The first legs were played on 6 September and 8 October, and the second legs were played on 10 and 11 October 2016.[2][6]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Maldives  5–1  Laos 4–0 1–1
Bangladesh  1–3  Bhutan 0–0 1–3
East Timor  2–4  Chinese Taipei 1–2 1–2
Maldives 4–0 Laos
Report
Laos 1–1 Maldives
Report

Maldives won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Laos were eligible to enter the Solidarity Cup.


Bangladesh 0–0 Bhutan
Report
Bhutan 3–1 Bangladesh
Report

Bhutan won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Bangladesh were eligible to enter the Solidarity Cup.


East Timor 1–2 Chinese Taipei
Report
Chinese Taipei 2–1 East Timor
Report

Chinese Taipei won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the Asian Cup qualifying third round. Timor-Leste were eligible to enter the Solidarity Cup.

Goalscorers

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There were 46 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.88 goals per match.

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Source: Asian Football Confederation

Notes

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  1. ^ Yemen played their round 1 home match in Qatar due to security concerns from the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
  2. ^ Timor-Leste played their round 1 home match in Malaysia.
  3. ^ Timor-Leste played their round 2 home match in Taiwan.

References

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  1. ^ "Impact of Football Association of Indonesia suspension". AFC. 3 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Stage set for UAE 2019 Qualifiers play-off draw". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  3. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b "AFC Asian Cup 2019 Competition Regulations". AFC.
  5. ^ "UAE 2019 Qualifiers play-off draw concluded". AFC. 7 April 2016.
  6. ^ a b "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Federacao Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". The-AFC.com. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
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