World Cup - Qualification Asia

FIFA World Cup qualification - Asia (AFC qualification) - the Asian national-team qualifying competition for FIFA World Cup places. Regulations: in the current format AFC teams compete for 8 direct World Cup places and 1 place in the inter-confederation play-offs, with qualification played in multiple stages: in Round 1, 20 teams are paired into 10 two-legged ties home and away, with aggregate winners advancing to Round 2 and joining the remaining participants to make 36 teams; a group stage follows, after which 18 teams progress to Round 3 and are drawn into 3 groups of 6 playing home and away, with the top two in each group qualifying directly for the World Cup and the 3rd and 4th placed teams moving to Round 4; in Round 4, 6 teams are split into 2 groups of 3 and play a centralized round-robin, with group winners qualifying for the World Cup and runners-up advancing to Round 5; in Round 5, the two Round 4 runners-up play home and away over two legs, and the winner becomes Asia’s representative in the inter-confederation play-offs. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss in group matches, with ties on points broken by goal difference, goals scored, head-to-head criteria among the tied teams, away goals in head-to-head, disciplinary points and then drawing of lots, while in knockout ties the winner is decided by aggregate goals over two legs, and if level extra time is played in the second leg and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out.