The2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification phase saw five teams advance to the finals to join three automatic qualifiers in the final tournament in Sri Lanka.
Qualification consisted of two sections.
Seeding was based partially on theFIFA World Ranks as at January 2009 (ranking shown in brackets).
| Automatic Qualifiers | Group Hosts | Other Teams |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Laos,
Timor-Leste and
Guam chose not to compete.Afghanistan withdrew prior to their first match.
Moved from originally scheduled dates of 7 March and 14 March due to conflict with the qualification for the2010 East Asian Football Championship.[2]
Macau  | 2–0 |  Mongolia |
|---|---|---|
Chan Kin Seng 22'Leong Chong In 24' | Report |
| Mongolia | 3–1 | Macau |
|---|---|---|
| Altankhuyag 55' Geofredo 77' (o.g.)Lkhümbengarav 89' | Report | Chan Kin Seng 39' |
3–3 on aggregate. Macau advanced to the group phase on theaway goals rule.
Qualification was officially scheduled to take place from 2–13 April 2009, although the actual dates began before and extended beyond that.[3] Each qualification group was held in a single location -Bangladesh,Maldives,Nepal andSri Lanka hosting their respective groups.
The teams were ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers were in following order:[1]
| Key to colours in group tables |
|---|
| Group winners and runners-up qualify for the final tournament |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Myanmar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 9 |
 Bangladesh | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 |
 Cambodia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 |
| Macau | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 |
| Myanmar | 4–0 | Macau |
|---|---|---|
| Khin Maung Lwin 3' Yazar Win Thein 15'Pyaye Phyo Oo 48'Myo Min Tun 59' | Report |
| Cambodia | 0–1 | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Enamul 73' |
| Bangladesh | 1–2 | Myanmar |
|---|---|---|
| Enamul 12' | Report | Pai Soe 68',77' |
| Myanmar | 1–0 | Cambodia |
|---|---|---|
| Yazar Win Thein 90+4' | Report |
| Bangladesh | 3–0 | Macau |
|---|---|---|
| Mamunul 38' Zahid 68',71' | Report |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Turkmenistan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 9 |
 Maldives | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 6 |
 Philippines | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 3 |
 Bhutan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 |
| Philippines | 1–0 | Bhutan |
|---|---|---|
| Gould 13' | Report |
| Turkmenistan | 5–0 | Philippines |
|---|---|---|
| Del Rosario 26' (o.g.) Şamyradow 54',63'Nasyrow 58'Urazow 65' | Report |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kyrgyzstan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
 Nepal | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 Palestine | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 Afghanistan(W) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tie-breaking situation:
| Kyrgyzstan | 1–1 | Palestine |
|---|---|---|
| Murzaev 20' (pen.) | Report | Al-Sobakhi 29' |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sri Lanka | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 7 |
 Pakistan | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 5 |
 Chinese Taipei | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 4 |
 Brunei | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 16 | −15 | 0 |
| Sri Lanka | 5–1 | Brunei |
|---|---|---|
| Jayasuriya 23',53',67',73' A. Mohamed 32' | Report | Kamarul 82' |
| Pakistan | 1–1 | Chinese Taipei |
|---|---|---|
| A. Ahmed 53' | Report | Chang Han 21' |
| Chinese Taipei | 1–2 | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| Huang Wei-yi 80' | Report | Jayasuriya 35' Ruwanthilake 39' |
| Chinese Taipei | 5–0 | Brunei |
|---|---|---|
| Chen Po-liang 11',13',58' Huang Wei-yi 30'Kuo Chun-yi 80' | Report |
| Sri Lanka | 2–2 | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|
| Ruwanthilake 2' S. Sanjeev 88' | Report | S. Khan 82' Bashir 84' |
The best-ranked second placed team also qualified for the finals tournament.
Due to Afghanistan's withdrawal from Group C, matches against fourth-placed sides in the other groups were excluded from the following comparison.
| Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| B | Maldives | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 |
| D | Pakistan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| C | Nepal | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Notes on the tie-breaking situation:
The final tournament, consisting of 8 teams, was eventually held from 16–27 February in Sri Lanka.[5]
The eight teams that qualified for the final tournament are:
India U23 – automatic qualifier
North Korea – automatic qualifier
Tajikistan – automatic qualifier Myanmar – winner Group A Turkmenistan – winner Group B Kyrgyzstan – winner Group C Sri Lanka – winner Group D Bangladesh – best runner-upThe draw for the final tournament was done on 30 November 2009 at the Galadri Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.[6]
Mohd Mamunul IslamKamarul Ariffin RamleeKeo SokngonTeab Vathanak
Chang HanKuo Chun-yiChe Chi ManLeong Chong InMukhthar NaseerMohamed UmairMurun AltankhuyagDonorovyn LkhümbengaravKhin Maung LwinMyo Min TunPyae Phyo OoBiraj MaharjanAtif BashirJadid Khan PathanSaid Al-SobakhiAlexander BorromeoAsmeer Lathif MohamedShanmugarajah SanjeevGahrymanberdi ÇoňkaýewRuslan MingazowGeofredo (playing against Mongolia)Anton del Rosario (playing against Turkmenistan)