1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Asian zone (AFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 36 teams entered the competition. The Asian zone was allocated 3.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

There were three rounds of play:

• First round: The 36 teams were divided into 10 groups of 3 or 4 teams each. The teams played against each other twice, except in Group 10, where the teams played against each other once. The group winners would advance to the final round.
• Final round: 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 once in Malaysia. The winner would qualify. The loser would advance to the AFC–OFC intercontinental play-offs.

First round

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Saudi Arabia	6	5	1	0	18	1	17	16
2	Malaysia	6	3	2	1	5	3	2	11
3	Chinese Taipei	6	1	1	4	4	13	–9	4
4	Bangladesh	6	1	0	5	4	14	–10	3

Saudi Arabia advanced to the final round.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Iran	6	5	1	0	39	3	36	16
2	Kyrgyzstan	5	3	0	2	12	11	1	9
3	Syria	5	2	1	2	27	5	22	7
4	Maldives	6	0	0	6	0	59	–59	0

Iran advanced to the final round.

Group 3

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	United Arab Emirates	4	3	1	0	7	1	6	10
2	Jordan	4	1	1	2	4	4	0	4
3	Bahrain	4	1	0	3	3	9	–6	3

United Arab Emirates advanced to the final round.

Group 4

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Japan	6	5	1	0	31	1	30	16
2	Oman	6	4	1	1	14	2	12	13
3	Macau	6	1	1	4	3	28	–25	4
4	Nepal	6	0	1	5	2	19	–17	1

Japan advanced to the final round.

Group 5

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Uzbekistan	6	5	1	0	20	3	17	16
2	Yemen	6	2	2	2	10	7	3	8
3	Indonesia	6	1	4	1	11	6	5	7
4	Cambodia	6	0	1	5	2	27	–25	1

Uzbekistan advanced to the final round.

Group 6

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	South Korea	4	3	1	0	9	1	8	10
2	Thailand	4	1	1	2	5	6	–1	4
3	Hong Kong	4	1	0	3	3	10	–7	3

South Korea advanced to the final round.

Group 7

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Kuwait	4	4	0	0	10	1	9	12
2	Lebanon	4	1	1	2	4	7	–3	4
3	Singapore	4	0	1	3	2	8	–6	1

Kuwait advanced to the final round.

Group 8

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	China	6	5	1	0	13	2	11	16
2	Tajikistan	6	4	1	1	15	2	13	13
3	Turkmenistan	6	2	0	4	8	13	–5	6
4	Vietnam	6	0	0	6	2	21	–19	0

China advanced to the final round.

Group 9

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Kazakhstan	4	4	0	0	15	2	13	12
2	Iraq	4	2	0	2	14	8	6	6
3	Pakistan	4	0	0	4	3	22	–19	0

Kazakhstan advanced to the final round.

Group 10

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Qatar	3	3	0	0	14	0	14	9
2	Sri Lanka	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
3	India	3	1	1	1	3	7	–4	4
4	Philippines	3	0	0	3	0	10	–10	0

Qatar advanced to the final round.

Final round

Group A

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Saudi Arabia	8	4	2	2	8	6	2	14
2	Iran	8	3	3	2	13	8	5	12
3	China	8	3	2	3	11	14	–3	11
4	Qatar	8	3	1	4	7	10	–3	10
5	Kuwait	8	2	2	4	7	8	–1	8

Saudi Arabia qualified. Iran advanced to the AFC play-off.

Group B

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	South Korea	8	6	1	1	19	7	12	19
2	Japan	8	3	4	1	17	9	8	13
3	United Arab Emirates	8	2	3	3	9	12	–3	9
4	Uzbekistan	8	1	3	4	13	18	–5	6
5	Kazakhstan	8	1	3	4	7	19	–12	6

South Korea qualified. Japan advanced to the AFC play-off.

Play-off

• The play-off was held at a neutral ground (one-leg).
• Extra time was held under golden goal rule.

Iran  v  Japan

November 16, 1997 21:00 UTC+8

Iran	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Japan
Azizi  46' Daei  58'	report (FIFA) report (Japanese)	Nakayama  39' Jo  75' Okano  118'

Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Manuel Diaz Vega (Spain)

Japan qualified. Iran advanced to the AFC–OFC intercontinental play-off.

Notes

External links

• 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) at FIFA.com