2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round


The second round of AFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played from 24 May 2015 to 29 March 2016.

Format

A total of 40 teams 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.

Seeding

The draw for the second round was held on 14 April 2015, at 17:00 MST, at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of April 2015. The 40 teams were seeded into five pots:
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, on the basis of ranking points gained from the first round matches, while the other three were seeded in pot 5.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3
Pot 4Pot 5

;Notes

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Group G

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Group H

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Ranking of runner-up teams

To determine the four best runner-up teams, the following criteria were used:
  1. Points
  2. Goal difference
  3. Goals scored
  4. Fair play points
  5. Drawing of lots
As a result of Indonesia being disqualified by FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.

Ranking of fourth-placed teams

To determine the four best fourth-placed teams, the following criteria were used:
  1. Points
  2. Goal difference
  3. Goals scored
  4. Fair play points
  5. Drawing of lots
As a result of Indonesia being disqualified by FIFA suspension, Group F contains only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team are not counted when determining the ranking of the fourth-placed teams.

Goalscorers

There were 507 goals scored in 152 matches, for an average of goals per match.
;14 goals
;11 goals
;8 goals
;7 goals
;6 goals
;5 goals
;4 goals
;3 goals
;2 goals
;1 goal
;1 own goal