2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification

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 are participating.

For the first time, the defending champions (Japan), 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 will join with four host nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam) qualify for the final tournament.

Teams that did not enter

The following national teams did not enter qualifying (The team's FIFA World Ranking before the draw was made is shown in brackets):
*fb|North Korea [82]
*fb|Turkmenistan [116]
*fb|Maldives [133]
*fb|Tajikistan [144]
*fb|Myanmar [147]
*fb|Kyrgyzstan [157]
*fb|Laos [170]
*fb|Nepal [175]
*fb|Mongolia [179]
*fb|Cambodia [188]
*fb|Afghanistan [189]
*fb|Bhutan [190]
*fb|Philippines [191]
*fb|Macau [192]
*fb|Brunei [199]
*fb|Guam [204]
*Flagicon|East Timor East Timor [Not yet ranked]

Thus, out of 46 national teams, 29 entered the qualifying.

Preliminary qualifying

In December 2005, Bangladesh and Pakistan played off in a home and away series (with Bangladesh hosting the first leg), to determine which team would progress to the final qualifying round. This was originally scheduled in November but the earthquake in Pakistan forced it to be postponed.

After goalless in the first leg in Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh on December 22, 2005, Bangladesh won the second leg thanks to the goal from Firaj Mahmud Hossain at the 84 minute in People's Sports Complex, Karachi, Pakistan four days later. Bangladesh qualified with the 1–0 on aggregate.

eedings

The seeding was based on performances in, and qualifying for, the 2004 competition. As Korea Republic were knocked out in the quarter-finals and Saudi Arabia failed to qualify beyond the group stage, they were therefore put into the second pot. The Australia team which had just joined the Asian Football Confederation on January 1, 2006 and have not participated in the previous tournament was given the lowest rank.

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Group C

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¹ All Iraq's home matches played in Al Ayn, United Arab Emirates.

² All Palestine's home matches played in Amman, Jordan.

Group F

footballbox
date=2006-02-22
16:00 |team1=fb-rt|Uzbekistan |score=5–0 |team2=fb|Bangladesh |goals1=Geynrikh 10', 52'
Djeparov 24'
Shatskikh 34', 84' |goals2= |report= [http://www.afcasiancup.com/en/tournament/mtindex.asp?cid=1337&mt=11816 (Report)] |stadium=Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Abdulhameed Ebrahim (Bahrain)----footballbox|date=2006-02-22
20:00 CST |team1=fb-rt|Hong Kong |score=0–3 |team2=fb|Qatar |goals1= |goals2=Yasser 11'
Bechir 44'
M. Mohamed 90 + 5' |report= [http://www.afcasiancup.com/en/tournament/mtindex.asp?cid=1337&mt=11817 (Report)]
stadium=Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong
Attendance: 1,806
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)----------------------------------------

References

External links

* [http://www.afcasiancup.com/en/tournament/fixtures.asp?cid=1331 Qualifying Round Results]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/07asch.html RSSSF details]