DILI (13 Jan 2017) – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has on Thursday confirmed the list of 24 teams to be included in the draw for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Final Round. The draw, which will place the teams into six groups of four, will take place on January 23, 2017, in Abu Dhabi.
Kuwait, one of the third-placed teams from the Preliminary Joint Qualifiers Round 2, was suspended by FIFA on October 16, 2015. Since the deadline of January 11, 2017 for lifting the suspension has now passed, as decided by the AFC Competitions Committee, Kuwait are not eligible to participate in the competition.
Guam, one of the best fourth-placed teams from the Preliminary Joint Qualifiers Round 2, has announced its withdrawal from the competition.
In order to maintain 24 teams in the competition, the AFC Competitions Committee decided December 20, 2016 to invite the two highest-ranked teams of the AFC Solidarity Cup Malaysia 2016, champions Nepal and runners-up Macau, to replace Kuwait and Guam respectively.
The full list of the teams participating in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Final Round can be found below.
TEAMS FROM PRELIMINARY ROUND 2 (14 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS)
The following fourteen (14) teams have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Final Round as a result of Preliminary Joint Qualifiers Round 2:
|
No. |
Team |
Remark |
|
1 |
DPR Korea |
Bottom 2nd placed teams from Preliminary Joint Qualifiers Round 2 |
|
2 |
Jordan | |
|
3 |
Oman | |
|
4 |
Lebanon | |
|
5-11 |
Palestine |
3rd placed teams from Preliminary Joint Qualifiers Round 2 |
| Kyrgyzstan | ||
| Hong Kong | ||
| Turkmenistan | ||
| Singapore | ||
| Vietnam | ||
| Philippines | ||
|
12 |
Myanmar |
Best 4th placed teams from Preliminary Joint Qualifiers Round 2 |
|
13 |
Bahrain | |
|
14 |
Afghanistan |
WINNERS OF AFC ASIAN CUP UAE 2019™ QUALIFIERS PLAY-OFF I (5 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS)
The following five (5) Member Associations have qualified for AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Final Round as a result of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Play-off I (listed in alphabetical order below):
|
1 |
Cambodia |
Winners of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Play-off I |
|
2 |
India |
|
|
3 |
Malaysia |
|
|
4 |
Tajikistan |
|
|
5 |
Yemen |
WINNERS OF AFC ASIAN CUP UAE 2019™ QUALIFIERS PLAY-OFF II (3 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS)
The following three (3) Member Associations have qualified for AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Final Round as a result of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Play-off II (listed in alphabetical order below):
|
1 |
Bhutan |
Winners of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019™ Qualifiers Play-off II |
|
2 |
Chinese Taipei |
|
|
3 |
Maldives |
BEST-RANKED TEAMS OF AFC SOLIDARITY CUP MALAYSIA 2016 (2 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS)
According to the decision by AFC Competitions Committee on December 20, 2016 to maintain 24 teams in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Final Round, the best-ranked teams based on the final ranking of AFC Solidarity Cup Malaysia 2016 will also participate in the competition, replacing unavailable teams:
|
1 |
Nepal |
Winner of |
Replacement of Guam |
|
2 |
Macau |
Runner-up of |
Replacement of Kuwait |
24 teams will be divided into 6 groups of four during the draw and the matches will be played during the Official FIFA days from March 28, 2017 to March 27, 2018.
Winner and runner-up of each group – total of 12 teams – will qualify to the final competition of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. They will join the other 12 teams that have already qualified to the Final Competition (Australia, China PR, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts United Arab Emirates).
The AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 will be played among 24 teams after its expansion from a previous 16-team competition played in Australia in 2015.
SEEDING FOR AFC ASIAN CUP UAE 2019™ QUALIFIERS FINAL ROUND
|
No. |
Team |
No. |
Team |
|
1 |
Jordan |
13 |
Maldives |
|
2 |
Oman |
14 |
Lebanon |
|
3 |
Philippines |
15 |
Yemen |
|
4 |
Bahrain |
16 |
Afghanistan |
|
5 |
Kyrgyzstan |
17 |
Chinese Taipei |
|
6 |
DPR Korea |
18 |
Myanmar |
|
7 |
India |
19 |
Malaysia |
|
8 |
Palestine |
20 |
Singapore |
|
9 |
Tajikistan |
21 |
Cambodia |
|
10 |
Vietnam |
22 |
Nepal |
|
11 |
Hong Kong |
23 |
Bhutan |
|
12 |
Turkmenistan |
24 |
Macau |
