The 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification was a qualification process organized by the AFC to determine the participating teams for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup, hosted by Australia, featured 16 teams.
In the initial scheme, ten places were determined by qualification matches, while six places were reserved for the following: Hosts (Australia) Top three finishers in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup (Japan, Australia, and South Korea) Winners of the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup (North Korea) Winners of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup (Palestine) As the host nation Australia also finished as runners-up in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the initial 6 automatic qualification spots were reduced to 5, with a total of 11 spots eventually determined by the qualification matches, in which 20 AFC members compete.
Qualified teams
Team Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Finalsappearance Lastappearance Previous bestperformance 2011 Runners-up (2011) 2011 Winners (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011) 2011 Winners (1956, 1960) 2011 Fourth place (1980) 2011 Fourth place (2004) 2011 Runners-up (1996) 2011 Winners (1984, 1988, 1996) 2007 Group Stage (2004, 2007) 2011 Fourth place (2011) 2011 Quarter-finals (2000, 2011) 2011 Winners (1968, 1972, 1976) 2011 Winners (1980) 2011 Quarter-finals (2004, 2011) 2011 Winners (2007) 2011 Runners-up (1984, 2004) Debut None
Qualification process The preliminary draw was held in Melbourne on 9 October 2012, 18:00 UTC+11. The twenty teams involved in the qualifiers were drawn into five groups of four teams each, with each group containing one team from each of the following seeding pots. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team from among all the groups qualified for the finals.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
The following teams did not enter the main qualifying draw, as categorized as "emerging countries" they compete separately. The teams were eligible to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup by winning either the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup or the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup.
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† Entrants to 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification ‡ Entrants to 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
Schedule The following matchdays were assigned by the AFC for 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification. As 15 and 19 November 2013 were also the dates of the inter-confederation playoffs for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, a number of alternative matchdays were allocated.
YearMatchdayDate2013Matchday 16 FebruaryMatchday 222 MarchMatchday 315 OctoberMatchday 415 NovemberMatchday 519 November2014Alternative11, 18, 25, 31 January4 FebruaryMatchday 65 March
Groups Key to colours in group tablesGroup winners, runners-up, and best third-placed team qualified for the finals
Tiebreakers In each group, the teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers were in the following order: Greater number of points obtained in group matches between the teams concerned Goal difference resulting from group matches between the teams concerned Greater number of goals scored in group matches between the teams concerned (away goals not applicable) Goal difference in all group matches Greater number of goals scored in all group matches Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were involved and they were both on the field of play Drawing of lots
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Ranking of third-placed teams To determine the best third-placed team, the following criteria were used: Number of points obtained in the group matches Goal difference in the group matches Greater number of goals scored in the group matches Fewer points calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card) Drawing of lots
Goalscorers 5 goals
Reza Ghoochannejhad Ali Mabkhout
4 goals
Javad Nekounam Younis Mahmoud Khalfan Ibrahim
3 goals
Faouzi Aaish Tha'er Bawab Ahmad Hayel Yousef Nasser Hassan Maatouk Walid Abbas Ahmed Khalil Igor Sergeev
2 goals
Boaz Solossa Ashkan Dejagah Fahad Awadh Hassan Chaito Mohammed Ghaddar Mohamad Haidar Eid Al-Farsi Qasim Said Sebastián Soria Fahad Al-Muwallad Yousef Al-Salem Nasser Al-Shamrani Khairul Amri Thitipan Puangchan Ismail Al Hammadi Habib Fardan Sardor Rashidov Vokhid Shodiev Huỳnh Quốc Anh Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng
1 goal
Ismail Abdul-Latif Saad Al Amer Abdulla Saleh Mohamed Salmeen Wu Lei Wu Xi Yu Dabao Zhang Xizhe Zhao Xuri Chan Wai Ho Lo Kwan Yee Karim Ansarifard Jalal Hosseini Alireza Jahanbakhsh Yaghoub Karimi Amir Hossein Sadeghi Masoud Shojaei Ali Adnan Hammadi Ahmad Karrar Jassim Mossab Al-Laham Yusuf Al-Rawashdeh Khalil Bani Attiah Abdallah Deeb Fahad Al-Rashidi Waleed Ali Hamad Aman Hussain Fadel Abbas Ali Atwi Roda Antar Soony Saad Azamuddin Akil Mohd Amri Yahyah Ahmad Fakri Saarani Khyril Muhymeen Norshahrul Idlan Talaha Sami Al-Hasani Amad Al Hosni Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali Ali Afif Yusef Ahmed Abdulkarim Al-Ali Hassan Al-Haydos Abdelkarim Hassan Jeddo Mohammed Kasola Taisir Al-Jassim Osama Hawsawi Naif Hazazi Shahril Ishak Gabriel Quak Ahmad Al Douni Abdul Fattah Al Agha Oday Jafal Omar Khribin Sanharib Malki Raja Rafe Burhan Sahyouni Adisak Kraisorn Chanathip Songkrasin Mongkol Tossakrai Teerasil Dangda Teeratep Winothai Omar Abdulrahman Ismail Matar Salem Saleh Odil Ahmedov Shohruh Gadoev Nguyễn Anh Đức Ayman Al-Hagri Mohammed Al-Sarori Ala'a Al-Sasi
Own goals
Hussain Fadel (playing against Iran) Theeraton Bunmathan (playing against Kuwait) Âu Văn Hoàn (playing against Uzbekistan)
Notes
References
External links (Official website) AFC Asian Cup, the-AFC.com