Information: Asian Cup 2011

QUALIFYING FORMAT

Sixteen teams will contest the final rounds of the AFC Asian Cup 2011, which will be hosted by Qatar.

The final competition will see 10 countries becoming eligible through a qualifying competition which runs through January 2009 to March 2010.

Five teams (3+2) and hosts Qatar (1) have a direct bye to the tournament proper.
AFC Asian Cup 2007: The three teams which have qualified directly for 2011 by virtue of their results in the 2007 edition are champions Iraq, runners-up Saudi Arabia and third-placed Korea Republic.

AFC Challenge Cup 2008 and 2010: India, winners of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008, and the champions of the 2010 edition of the same competition also have berths reserved for them in the Finals.


QUALIFICATION COMPETITION

The AFC Competitions Committee approved a two-round qualifying competition to decide the 10 teams for the Finals. The seedings for the qualification format are based on the results from the AFC Asian Cup 2007™ and its qualifiers.

The seedings:

1. Iraq*; 2. Saudi Arabia*; 3. Korea Rep*.; 4. Japan; 5. Australia; 6. IR Iran; 7. Uzbekistan; 8. Vietnam; 9. China PR; 10. Thailand; 11. Indonesia; 12. UAE; 13. Bahrain; 14. Oman; 15. Malaysia; 16. Jordan; 17. Syria; 18. Hong Kong; 19. Yemen; 20. Kuwait; 21. Singapore; 22. India**; 23. Lebanon^; 24. Maldives^
· * Direct bye to the Finals
· **Winners of AFC Challenge Cup 2008
· ^playoff teams

In Round One, the two teams ranked 23-24 (Lebanon and Maldives) played home and away matches to determine who would join the other nineteen (19) teams (ranked 4-22) in Round Two of the qualifiers.

Lebanon defeated Maldives in the playoff.

Round Two is scheduled to take place from January 2009 to March 2010.

In Round Two, one team from Round One shall join the sixteen (19) teams ranked 4-22. These twenty (20) teams shall be divided into five groups of four (5x4). The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Finals in 2011.

The ten (10) qualifiers from Round 2 shall join the top three (3) seeds who are the top three (3) finishers of AFC Asian Cup 2007™ – Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic, who get automatic byes, in addition to hosts Qatar and the winners of the AFC Challenge Cup competitions in 2008 and 2010, bringing the total number of participating teams to sixteen (16).

India won the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup to qualify directly for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup Finals. Hence, Group C will comprise only three teams.

Source: Asian Football Confederations