2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Tournament details
Teams	39 (from 1 confederation)
← 1998 2006 →

AFC Asian Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
AFC Asian Cup 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
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Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for Asia.

The Asian Football Confederation was allocated four and half qualifying berths for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea and Japan, the co-hosts, qualified automatically, leaving two and half spots open for competition between 40 teams. Myanmar withdrew from the tournament after being placed in Group 2 but before any matches had been played, therefore reducing the group to 3 teams.

Afghanistan, Bhutan and North Korea chose not to participate.

Asia's two remaining automatic qualifying berths were taken by Saudi Arabia and China.

Iran defeated United Arab Emirates for the chance to become the possible third Asian qualifier, but lost to Ireland in the intercontinental play-off.

Tournament structure[]

There were three rounds of play:

• First Stage: The 39 teams were divided into 9 groups of 4 teams each, and 1 group of 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice, except in Group 2, where the teams played against each other once. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
• Second Stage: The 10 teams were divided into 2 groups of 5 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. The runners-up would advance to the AFC Play-off.
• Play-off: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

First round[]

Key to colours in group tables
	Group winners qualify for the Second round

Group 1[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Oman 6 5 1 0 33 3 +30 16 Syria 6 4 1 1 40 6 +34 13 Laos 6 1 1 4 3 40 −37 4 Philippines 6 0 1 5 2 29 −27 1

Laos — 0–7 2–0 0–9 Oman 12–0 — 7–0 2–0 Philippines 1–1 0–2 — 1–5 Syria 11–0 3–3 12–0 —

Group 2[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Iran 2 2 0 0 21 0 +21 6 Tajikistan 2 1 0 1 16 2 +14 3 Guam 2 0 0 2 0 35 −35 0 Myanmar Withdrew

Guam — — — Iran 19–0 — 2–0 Tajikistan 16–0 — —

Group 3[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qatar 6 5 1 0 14 3 +11 16 Palestine 6 2 1 3 8 9 −1 7 Malaysia 6 2 1 3 8 11 −3 7 Hong Kong 6 1 1 4 3 10 −7 4

Hong Kong — 2–1 1–1 0–3 Malaysia 2–0 — 4–3 0–0 Palestine 1–0 1–0 — 1–2 Qatar 2–0 5–1 2–1 —

Group 4[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Bahrain 6 5 0 1 9 4 +5 15 Kuwait 6 4 1 1 9 3 +6 13 Kyrgyzstan 6 1 1 4 3 9 −6 4 Singapore 6 0 2 4 3 8 −5 2

Bahrain — 1–2 1–0 2–0 Kuwait 0–1 — 2–0 1–1 Kyrgyzstan 1–2 0–3 — 1–1 Singapore 1–2 0–1 0–1 —

Group 5[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Thailand 6 5 1 0 20 5 +15 16 Lebanon 6 4 1 1 26 5 +21 13 Sri Lanka 6 1 1 4 8 20 −12 4 Pakistan 6 0 1 5 5 29 −24 1

Lebanon — 6–0 4–0 1–2 Pakistan 1–8 — 3–3 0–6 Sri Lanka 0–5 3–1 — 0–3 Thailand 2–2 3–0 4–2 —

Group 6[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Iraq 6 4 2 0 28 5 +23 14 Kazakhstan 6 4 2 0 20 2 +18 14 Nepal 6 2 0 4 13 25 −12 6 Macau 6 0 0 6 2 31 −29 0

Iraq — 1–1 8–0 4–2 Kazakhstan 1–1 — 3–0 4–0 Macau 0–5 0–5 — 1–6 Nepal 1–9 0-6 4–1 —

Group 7[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Uzbekistan 6 4 2 0 20 5 +15 14 Turkmenistan 6 4 0 2 12 7 +5 12 Jordan 6 2 2 2 12 7 +5 8 Chinese Taipei 6 0 0 6 0 25 −25 0

Chinese Taipei — 0–2 0–5 0–4 Jordan 6–0 — 1–2 1–1 Turkmenistan 1–0 2–0 — 2–5 Uzbekistan 7–0 2–2 1–0 —

Group 8[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts United Arab Emirates 6 4 0 2 21 5 +16 12 Yemen 6 3 2 1 14 8 +6 11 India 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 11 Brunei 6 0 0 6 0 28 −28 0

Brunei — 0–1 0–12 0–5 India 5–0 — 1–0 1–1 United Arab E. 4–0 1–0 — 3–2 Yemen 1–0 3–3 2–1 —

Group 9[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts China 6 6 0 0 25 3 +22 18 Indonesia 6 4 0 2 16 7 +9 12 Maldives 6 1 1 4 8 19 −11 4 Cambodia 6 0 1 5 2 22 −20 1

Cambodia — 0–4 0–2 1–1 China 3–1 — 5–1 10–1 Indonesia 6–0 0–2 — 5–0 Maldives 6–0 0–1 0–2 —

Group 10[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Saudi Arabia 6 6 0 0 30 0 +30 18 Vietnam 6 3 1 2 9 9 0 10 Bangladesh 6 1 2 3 5 15 −10 5 Mongolia 6 0 1 5 2 22 −20 1

Bangladesh — 2–2 0–3 0–4 Mongolia 0–3 — 0–6 0–1 Saudi Arabia 6–0 6–0 — 5–0 Vietnam 0–0 4–0 0–4 —

Second round[]

Key to colours in group tables
	Group winners qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup
	Runners-up advance to the AFC play off

Group A[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Saudi Arabia 8 5 2 1 17 8 +9 17 Iran 8 4 3 1 10 7 +3 15 Bahrain 8 2 4 2 8 9 −1 10 Iraq 8 2 1 5 9 10 −1 7 Thailand 8 0 4 4 5 15 −10 4

Bahrain — 3–1 2–0 0–4 1–1 Iran 0–0 — 2–1 2–0 1–0 Iraq 1–0 1–2 — 1–2 4–0 Saudi Arabia 1–1 2–2 1–0 — 4–1 Thailand 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–3 —

Group B[]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts China 8 6 1 1 13 2 +11 19 United Arab Emirates 8 3 2 3 10 11 −1 11 Uzbekistan 8 3 1 4 13 14 −1 10 Qatar 8 2 3 3 10 10 0 9 Oman 8 1 3 4 7 16 −9 6

China — 1–0 3–0 3–0 2–0 Oman 0–2 — 0–3 1–1 4–2 Qatar 1–1 0–0 — 1–2 2–2 United Arab E. 0–1 2–2 0–2 — 4–1 Uzbekistan 1–0 5–0 2–1 0–1 —

Play-off[]

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Iran win 4–0 on aggregate and advanced to the UEFA–AFC qualification play-off.

Intercontinental play-off[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Republic of Ireland	2–1	Iran	2–0	0–1

Qualified teams[]

The following four teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
Japan	Hosts	31 May 1996	1 (1998)
South Korea	Hosts	31 May 1996	5 (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)
Saudi Arabia	Second Round Group A winners	21 October 2001	2 (1994, 1998)
China PR	Second Round Group B winners	7 October 2001	0 (debut)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers[]

11 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

External links[]

• FIFA.com Reports
• RSSSF Page