2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round

The play-off round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification was played between 7 and 12 October 2021.[1] It was originally scheduled for 3–8 September, 13 October and 17 November 2020, but the AFC changed the dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.[2][3]

2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round
Tournament details
Dates7–12 October 2021
Teams4 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played4
Goals scored10 (2.5 per match)
Top scorer(s)Ten players (1 goal each)
2019
2027

Format

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A total of four teams (the four lowest fifth-placed teams of the Asian Cup qualifying second round) competed in the play-off round. The two play-off winners joined the 22 teams which advanced directly from the Asian Cup qualifying second round to the third round, to compete for the final 11 slots in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

The play-off round was originally supposed to be consisted of 12 teams playing for 2 rounds. Following both Qatar and China's qualifications for the final tournament, the number was reduced from 12 to 4.[4] The play-off losers would have joined the six teams which lost in the Asian Cup qualifying first round. They were to compete for the 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup, which was cancelled.[5]

Qualified teams

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Group
(Second round)
Fifth place (worst 4)
A   Guam
B   Chinese Taipei
C   Cambodia
G   Indonesia

Draw

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The draw for the play-off round was held on 24 June 2021, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4][6] The four teams (Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Guam, and Indonesia) were drawn into two pairings. The team drawn first in each pairing hosted the first leg, and the team drawn second in each pairing hosted the second leg.[7]

Matches

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Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 8.4).[8]

The first leg was played on 7 and 9 October, and the return leg was played on 11 and 12 October 2021.[1] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these fixtures were held in neutral grounds, with Bahrain and Thailand hosting these occasions.[9][10]

Summary

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Guam   1–3   Cambodia 0–1 1–2
Indonesia   5–1   Chinese Taipei 2–1 3–0

Details

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Guam  0–1  Cambodia
Report Vathanaka   26'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)
Cambodia  2–1  Guam
Report Mendiola   36'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Ismaeel Habib (Bahrain)

Cambodia won 3–1 on aggregate.


Indonesia  2–1  Chinese Taipei
Report Hsu Heng-pin   90'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Payam Heydari (Iran)
Chinese Taipei  0–3  Indonesia
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Mohammad Arafah (Jordan)

Indonesia won 5–1 on aggregate.

Goalscorers

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There were 10 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match.

1 goal

References

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  1. ^ a b "AFC Competitions Calendar 2021" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 24 February 2021.
  2. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 25 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Asia". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 12 August 2020. In light of the current COVID-19 situation in many countries, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have jointly decided that the upcoming qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023, originally scheduled to take place during the international match windows in October and November 2020, will be rescheduled to 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Line-up for AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Qualifiers Final Round unveiled". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 16 June 2021.
  5. ^ "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  6. ^ "AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 hopefuls to discover opponents in Qualifiers' Draws". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Guam to face Cambodia in playoffs, Indonesia drawn against Chinese Taipei". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  8. ^ "8. Qualifiers". Competition Regulations AFC Asian Cup China 2023. Asian Football Confederation. 10 September 2020. p. 25.
  9. ^ Rodriguez, Jose (6 August 2021). "Bahrain to host Cambodia vs Guam Asian Cup play-offs". Khmer Times.
  10. ^ Adiyaksa, Muhammad (29 September 2021). "Resmi! AFC Setuju, 2 Laga Timnas Indonesia Vs Chinese Taipei pada play-off Kualifikasi Piala Asia 2023 Digelar di Buriram". Bola.com (in Indonesian).
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