The Chinese men's soccer team and Thailand have the same number of points, goal difference, and total goals scored. They played against each other China scored 4 points and Thailand scored 1 point. Therefore, the Chinese men's soccer team pushed Thailand to advance. Thailand was one goal away from advancing, but ultimately chose China to advance. The Singaporean team was highly sportsmanlike and stayed in the game until the end even after an early exit.
Group A: Qatar 2-1 India; Kuwait 1-0 Afghanistan
Qatar competed very early in the group, while the other three teams had chances of advancing, which made the group the most competitive. In the final round in India, the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium was the guest of honor. India took the lead in the 37th minute when Geert broke through to give the visitors the lead. In the 73rd minute, Youssef Ayman scored and Qatar equalized the colors. In the 85th minute, Ahmed Ravi broke through to put Qatar beyond the reach of the score.
Kuwait sat at the Ali Salem Al-Sabah Stadium, battling Afghanistan for a place in the play-offs. Kuwait took the lead in the first half in the 81st minute when Ed Rashidi scored a brace in the attack. With India failing to beat Qatar, Kuwait progressed to the second spot after beating Afghanistan to thrillingly qualify for the last 18 as India failed.
Group B: Japan 5-0 Syria; DPRK 4-1 Myanmar
Japan in this group locked up qualification early, sweeping Syria in the final round by a wide margin. Because this match started first, Syria's points were eventually set at seven, so North Korea had their chance. After that, DPR Korea borrowed the New National Stadium in Laos to face Myanmar. The match was enforced by a team of Chinese referees, with the referee being Chinese Super League star Shen Yinhao.
North Korea had a strong all-around performance. Lee Il Sung scored twice in the first half and Lee Joong Jo also scored a goal to take a 3-0 lead over their opponents at half time. In the second half, Wee Lin Aung reclaimed a goal for Myanmar and Ri Zu Zu scored in the last minute to kill the game. North Korea's total reached nine points after welcoming the ball, overtaking Syria and advancing to the second. At the end of the fourth round, North Korea trails Syria by four points.
Group D: Malaysia 3-1 Chinese Taipei; Oman 1-1 Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia drew in the last round, with Oman advancing early to collect the spoils. Because Kyrgyzstan had a big advantage in goal difference, the other place was not in doubt. In the final round, Malaysia beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 at home, but the goal difference was still 6 goals behind Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia was out. With Kyrgyzstan drawing away to Oman, the group was set, with Kyrgyzstan advancing as second in the group.
Group F: Indonesia 2-0 Philippines; Iraq vs Vietnam
Iraq advanced early, with Indonesia and Vietnam vying for the other spot. Indonesia took the initiative, sitting in the final round at the Gloria Puncano Stadium, beating the Philippines 2-0 at home, with Haye scoring in the 32nd minute and more in the 56th. Indonesia locked up second place in the group after three points and advanced to the last 18, while Vietnam was eliminated.
Asia 18 Preliminary Round: China, South Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, North Korea, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Australia and Palestine.
