Turkmenistan qualifies for the second time (first time being in 2004) after beating and likely kicking Chinese Taipei out.
Both matches in Group F ended in scoreless draws. Philippines disappointed in Nepal. Philippines 9 pts Yemen 7 Tajikistan 7 *Yemen in front of Tajikistan because of better head-to-head record Match-day 6 Philippines - Tajikistan Yemen - Nepal Philippines qualifies with win or draw OR loss if Yemen fails to defeat Nepal; Yemen qualifies with win OR draw if Tajikistan draw or lose OR lose if Tajikistan lose; Tajikistan qualifies with win OR draw if Yemen lose Hong Kong trails against Lebanon, it's 0-1 after 45, they are down to 10 men. Seems like they only think about last day where they will have to win in Pyongyang to qualify. Bahrain takes the lead in Singapore with 20 mins to go. If stays like this, they qualify to AC 2019. Jordan is minutes away of clinching berth.
India 2-2 Mynamar. India didn't play very well but they extend their (misleading) unbeaten run to 13 games. Palestine crushed Maldives 8-1 but they'll need at least a draw in Muscat to top the group.
http://www.the-afc.com/asian-cup-2019/qualifiers-group-a-md5-macau-v-kyrgyz-republic Macau 3-4 Krygyzstan Macau was 3-0 down early in second half but they staged a good fight back to score 3 goals and gave the visitors a good run for their money.
An unbeaten run is what it is..13 games unbeaten even if against lesser ranked opposition is no joke I doubt India were even motivated for this game having been the first to qualify. Btw great game by Palastine
I think India has improved and that undefeated run is a mark of that but surely there are red flags after such a slow start against Myanmar? Palestine is on their own little run (11 matches unbeaten with seven straight wins) and are the only team with a 100% record in Round 3. That said, even I am concerned with certain elements of the team and know that 8-1 vs. Maldives, 6-0 vs Malaysia, or 10-0 vs. Bhutan will matter very little once we lock horns with the stronger sides of the continent.
That result combined with the fact that was 1-1 in the 75th in Bhutan vs. Oman (ended 4-2) shows how misguided the AFC's decision was to split qualifying for the 2011 and 2015 editions.
Turkmenistan use this cheap tactic as a last resort trick. They did this even to Iran in WCQs back in 2015/16. Iran had a charter flight and avoided the hassle.
I apologize if this was already mentioned, but I would like to see this format for the 24-team edition of Asian Cup. 8 groups of 3 teams. Only group winner advances to the knockout rounds. In the group stage, each team plays one home and one away game. This will allow each team to maintain the maximum number of games required to win the tournament from the previously used 16-team format. It also seems like a much more clear-cut way of determining who progresses to the next rounds. Less experienced AFC teams will still get a chance to participate in the tournament, but without adding too much grind to the experience. I think now is the time to focus more on the quality of the overall tournament for the AFC. EDIT: the only concern on top of my head is the likelihood of biscotto in a three-team group stage (though perhaps the fact that only the winner advances negates any incentive for two teams to collude).
Not going to happen, the AFC already announced the format and it will be exactly like the bloated Euros. Six groups of four teams, with the top two teams advancing in addition to the four best runners up. 36 games to eliminate 8 teams is not great- I would prefer that only the winners of each group plus the two best runners up advancing to the quarter finals. Or Letting 12 teams advance with a bye for the four best teams.
To be honest with you guys, the gap between the top 24 is narrowing. Teams like Palestine and Lebanon can put up a good fight. I'm sure we'll see a few upsets in 2019.
In 2015 every team that ended last in their group didn't manage to get a single point. All groups were 9 - 6 - 3 - 0 in points, so imagine how that will be with 24 teams...that means some minnows will progress with mediocre performances.
True, but look at how the 'third tier' teams like Thailand, Vietnam and Palestine 10 years ago and now. Those countries are investing more in youth programs and leagues than before. I'm against 24 teams but I think the matches will get closer than we expect.
Okay, how about breaking away from the mold altogether. Why don't we format the Asian Cup to something like the FA Cup? Have all 47 member associations' teams participate. Spread the initial knockout rounds over period of 3 years, and have the quarter finals and all the way to the final hosted in one country every 4 years.
as for now pot 1: UAE (host) Iran Australia Japan Korea Republic KSA (522pts) pot 2: China (504pts) Palestine (443pts) Syria Uzbekistan Iraq Lebanon (407pts) pot 3: Oman (335pts) India Qatar Vietnam Jordan Turkmenistan (292pts) pot 4: Kyrgyzstan (not yet qualified - 282pts) Korea DPR (not yet qualified) Bahrain Philippines (not yet qualified) Tajikistan (not yet qualified Thailand (236 pts) Yemen Myanmar (not yet qualified) draw will be based on april fifa ranking i think
Shouldn't this thread be titled "2019 Asian Cup QUALIFIERS - Third Round" ... took me ages to find it. Anyhoo, Kyrgyzstan have just qualified for their first ever Asian Cup after beating Myanmar 5-1. So congratulations Kyrgyzstan! Thinking of going to Yemen vs Nepal here in Doha on Tuesday. could actually be interesting as I just realized Yemen will qualify if they win, and Nepal should draw a large crowd here in Qatar. Nepalese are actually the majority population here in Qatar just after Indians.
Three debutants guaranteed then. Kyrgyzstan, and two of Philippines, Tajikistan, and Yemen (who played in the 1976 edition as South Yemen). Seeing the names on paper, I don't think there's a huge dilution in quality. Draw should be interesting.
Meh - typical AFC scheduling.. just realized that the Philippines vs. Tajikistan game kicks off some 5 hours before Yemen vs Nepal.. meaning that Yemen will know what they have to do, if anything to qualify. In fact should Philippines beat Tajikistan, Yemen would be threw regardless even if they lose due to their head-to-head record. Pretty crazy to think that Yemen could qualify for the AFC Cup despite winning only 2 out of 14 qualifying group games!
Wow, that's crazy. I saw they are on 1-4-0 in this stage, but didn't closely look at their first stage record.
Their stage 1 group was the toughest, so nothing crazy about it (Uzbekistan, North Korea, Bahrain, Philippines, Yemen). If I remember correctly North Korea were the bottom seeds for that group for inactivity during international windows but even so every team (except Uzbekistan from pot 1) was the toughest possible from their respective pots. There is a good chance every team from that group will play in the final tournament. Yemen is a team to symphatize, for every obstacle they have had. They had to play their home matches in Qatar and to even get to their "home stadium" they had to travel by a refugee boat at least the first couple of matches. https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/yemen-foo...-world-cup-2018-qualifier-north-korea-1504472