TheAFC first round of2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, which also served as the first round of2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, was played from 6 to 11 June 2019.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6-11 June 2019 |
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 32 (2.67 per match) |
| Attendance | 91,876 (7,656 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Shahrel Fikri(4 goals) |
←2018 2026 → | |
A total of twelve teams (teams ranked 35–46 in theAFC entrant list) played home-and-away overtwo legs. The six winners advanced to thesecond round.
The six losers were eligible to enter the2020 AFC Solidarity Cup, which was subsequently cancelled.
Timor-Leste were barred from participating in the qualification tournament after being found to have fielded a total of twelve ineligible players in2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches, among other competitions.[2] However, as FIFA did not bar Timor-Leste from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, they were still allowed to enter the competition, but were ineligible to qualify for the Asian Cup.[3]
The draw for the first round was held on 17 April 2019 at 11:00MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House inKuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4]
The seeding was based on theFIFA World Rankings of April 2019 (shown in parentheses below).[5] Teams from Pot A hosted the first leg, while teams from Pot B hosted the second leg.
Note:Bolded teams qualified for the second round.
| Pot A | Pot B |
|---|---|
|
The first legs were played on 6–7 June, and the second legs on 11 June 2019.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mongolia  | 3–2 |  Brunei | 2–0 | 1–2 |
Macau  | 1–3 |  Sri Lanka | 1–0 | 0–3[note 2] |
Laos  | 0–1 |  Bangladesh | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Malaysia | 12–2 |  Timor-Leste | 7–1 | 5–1 |
Cambodia  | 4–1 |  Pakistan | 2–0 | 2–1 |
Bhutan  | 1–5 |  Guam | 1–0 | 0–5 |
| Brunei | 2–1 | Mongolia |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Mongolia won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to thesecond round.
| Macau | 1–0 | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
| Sri Lanka | 3–0 Awarded[note 2] | Macau |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Sri Lanka won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
Bangladesh won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
| Malaysia | 7–1 | Timor-Leste |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
|
| Timor-Leste | 1–5 | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (AFC) |
Malaysia won 12–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
Cambodia won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
Guam won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
There were 32 goals scored in 11 matches, for an average of 2.91 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
