The 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification was held in late 2005 and the final qualification round was held from February to November 2006 with 25 nations participating. For the first time, the defending champions, did not earn an automatic berth in the finals and had to compete in the qualification tournament. Twelve teams from top two of each groups joined with four host nations qualify for the final tournament.
The seeding was based on the 2004 competition, including results during qualifying. The teams in their respective pots also are listed with respect to their performance. Note that Jordan and Uzbekistan were placed higher than South Korea and Iraq. For the tie-breaker here served the fact that Jordan and Uzbekistan were eliminated on penalty shootout, while the other two teams were clearly defeated. Uzbekistan precedes Jordan as it won its group, while Jordan placed second. The same principle is applied to the rest of the teams on the list. The Australian team which had just joined the Asian Football Confederation on 1 January 2006 and had not participated in previous tournaments was given the lowest rank.
Pot A
Pot B
Pot C
Pot D
Tie-breaking criteria
If two or more teams in a group are equal on points on completion of the group matches, their places shall be determined as follows:
Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned.
Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned.
Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned.
Pakistan is added back into the final qualifying round after Sri Lanka withdrew at the last minute.
24 teams will be split into six groups of four, playing in a home and away format. The top two of each group will progress to the finals. Matches will start on 22 February 2006 and ends on 15 November 2006.
On 1 August 2006, Lebanon officially withdrew from the competition after having played only one match, due to their ongoing conflict with Israel.
Group A
Note: Japan is ranked higher than Saudi Arabia by the two head-to-head game results. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Note: Bahrain is ranked higher than Kuwait by the two head-to-head game results. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 1 On 1 August 2006, it was announced that the AFC had accepted a withdrawal request from the Federation Libanaise de Football due to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The results of the Lebanon-Kuwait game on 22 February 2006 have been declared null and void and do not count towards the group rankings. The following fixtures were also canceled:
