AFC Asian Cup qualifiers

Over the past century, the AFC Asian Cup has seen various changes in its qualification format as well as the number of teams participating.

Number of teams entering qualification

	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2007	2011	2015	2019	2023	2027
Total entrants	19	18	18	19	26	31	31	30	24	22	35	42	43	25	27	20	46	46	47
Played at least one match	6	10	4	14	13	15	17	21	20	20	33			24	24		45		TBA
Qualified via qualification	2	3	1	3	5	3	9	8	8	6	10	10	14	12	10	11	23	23	23
Qualified without playing	2[a]	1	3[b]	2[a]	1	3[b]	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	5	0[c]	0[c]	0[c]
Total finalists	4	4	4	4	6	6	10	10	10	8	12	12	16	16	16	16	24	24	24

1956

The 19 teams were divided in to three different zones based upon their location. In each zone, the teams played in a two legged Knockout format. The four winners of first round advanced to the next round. The two winners in the second round advanced to final which decided the team participating in the final tournament along with the hosts.

1960–1972

From 1960, the format had a slight change. The participating teams were again divided into zones based upon their location. The teams in their zones played against each other once, in a round robin format. The group topper of each zone advanced to the final tournament along with the hosts.

1972–1980

Starting from 1972, the format saw another change. Instead of zones, the teams were now divided into groups, with two teams instead of one advancing to the final tournament along with the hosts. Also the number of teams participating in the final tournament was increased to six and then to ten in 1980.

1984 & 1988

For a brief period, the teams were divided into groups not based on their location. This saw teams from all zones competing against each other in Asian Cup qualifiers for the first time since its inception. Two teams from each group qualified for the final tournament, along with the winners of previous edition who received a direct entry and as well as the hosts.

1992–2000

The format was reverted to an older one where teams were segregated based upon their location, but this time the number of participating nations increased. Winners of previous edition and the hosts were joined by the winner of each groups in qualifiers. The number of participants in the final tournament was increased to 12.

2004 & 2007

The tournament started from the preliminary round where the lower ranked teams played against each other, the winners of this round qualified for the qualifying round. In the qualifying round, top two teams from each group qualified for the final tournament. Participation of teams in the final tournament increased from 12 to 16.

2011 & 2015

The hosts, previous edition's winners, runner-up and third placed sides automatically qualified for the final tournament. AFC Challenge Cup winners(2) were also awarded a slot in the final tournament. The remaining ten slots were decided by the qualifying tournament in which the lower ranked teams played in preliminary rounds and the winners advanced to the qualifying round. In the qualifying round, the top two teams from each group received a berth in the final tournament.

2019–present

The proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds for FIFA World Cup qualifiers with those for the Asian Cup was ratified by the AFC Competitions Committee.^[1]

The tournament was expanded to 24 teams from previous number of 16.

The qualification structure is as follows:^[1][2]

• First round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
• Second round: A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–34 and six first round winners) were divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches.
  • The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up advanced to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualified for the AFC Asian Cup finals.
  • The next 16 highest ranked teams (the remaining four group runners-up, the eight third-placed teams and the four best group fourth-placed teams) advanced directly to the third round of Asian Cup qualification.
  • The remaining 12 teams entered the play-off round to contest the remaining eight spots in the third round of Asian Cup qualification.^[3]
• Play-off round: At a Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that a play-off round of qualifying would be introduced into the qualification procedure.^[4] There were two rounds of home-and-away two-legged play-off matches to determine the final eight qualifiers for the third round.
• Third round: The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four to play home-and-away round-robin matches, and they competed for the remaining slots of the AFC Asian Cup.

The play-off round represented a change from the initially announced qualification format – which saw the remaining fourth-placed teams and the four best group fifth-placed teams also advance to the third round.^[1]

Only teams that played at least one match are considered for the purposes of first appearance. Teams that withdrew prior to the qualification, or that qualified to the AFC Asian Cup by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals, are not considered.

First appearance in qualification by team

Year	Debuting teams			Successor teams	Renamed teams
	Teams	No.	CT
1956	Cambodia[A],  Malaya[B],  Philippines,  Republic of China[C],  South Korea,  South Vietnam[D]	6	6
1960	Hong Kong[a],  India[b],  Iran[b],  Israel[c],  Pakistan[b],  Singapore[b]	6	12
1964	Thailand[d]	1	13	Malaysia[B]
1968	Burma[e][E],  Indonesia[f],  Japan[e]	3	16
1972	Bahrain,  Brunei,  Ceylon[g][F],  Iraq,  Jordan,  Kuwait[h],  Lebanon,  Syria	8	24		Khmer Republic[A]
1976	Afghanistan[i],  China,  North Korea,  Qatar,  Saudi Arabia	5	29
1980	Bangladesh[j],  Macau,  United Arab Emirates	3	32		Sri Lanka[F]
1984	Nepal[k],  North Yemen[G],  Oman	3	35
1988	South Yemen[l]	1	36
1992		0	36		Chinese Taipei[C]
1996	Guam,  Kazakhstan,  Kyrgyzstan,  Maldives[m],  Tajikistan,  Turkmenistan,  Uzbekistan	7	43	Yemen[G]  Vietnam[D]	Myanmar[E]
2000	Bhutan,  Laos[k],  Mongolia,  Palestine	4	47		Cambodia[A]
2004	East Timor	1	48
2007	Australia	1	49
2011		0	49
2015		0	49
2019		0	49
2023		0	49
2027	Northern Mariana Islands	1	50

Teams' entries prior to their actual debuts in qualification

Successor and renamed teams

The below table compares the overall records of all teams that have participated in qualification. Teams are ordered by points using the three points for a win system, then by goal difference, and then by goals scored. Note that this order does not represent any official rankings, and qualification tournaments are not direct competitions among all teams.

The "Qualifying attempts" column only counts qualifying campaigns where the team played at least one match, while the "Appearances in the finals" also include automatic qualifiers.

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Teams in bold are currently participating or are yet to start in the 2027 qualification. The table is updated to the matches played after 2023 qualification.

No.	Team	Qualifying attempts		Appearances in the finals	Overall qualification record							Points
		Total	Successful		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points	Avg
1	Iran	12	11	15	69	52	10	7	209	37	+172	166	2.406
2	China	12	12	13	60	41	11	8	178	26	+152	134	2.233
3	Qatar	11	9	11	58	41	7	10	134	38	+96	130	2.241
4	South Korea	13	10	15	56	41	6	9	186	24	+162	129	2.304
5	Thailand	15	8	8	81	38	15	28	155	107	+48	129	1.593
6	United Arab Emirates	11	10	11	56	40	8	8	155	34	+121	128	2.286
7	Syria	13	7	7	67	38	11	18	134	67	+67	125	1.866
8	Saudi Arabia	8	8	11	48	39	6	3	152	21	+131	123	2.563
9	Oman	10	5	5	61	36	7	18	140	60	+80	115	1.885
10	Jordan	11	5	5	64	33	15	16	113	52	+61	114	1.781
11	Bahrain	11	7	7	65	34	9	22	100	60	+40	111	1.708
12	Japan	8	6	10	44	35	4	5	138	19	+119	109	2.477
13	Iraq	9	9	10	49	33	10	6	102	36	+66	109	2.224
14	Kuwait	11	7	10	61	30	17	14	134	58	+76	107	1.754
15	Malaysia	17	3	4	79	30	15	34	144	130	+14	105	1.329
16	Uzbekistan	8	8	8	47	33	5	9	112	39	+73	104	2.212
17	Hong Kong	17	3	4	90	27	23	40	115	131	–16	104	1.155
18	Vietnam	12	4	5	63	27	11	25	113	91	+22	92	1.460
19	North Korea	7	6	5	45	23	11	11	70	48	+22	80	1.777
20	Indonesia	13	4	5	64	21	12	31	96	103	–7	75	1.171
21	Lebanon	8	2	3	52	21	10	21	74	71	+3	73	1.403
22	India	11	3	5	63	19	11	33	73	106	–33	68	1.079
23	Singapore	13	0	1	74	19	11	44	81	141	–60	68	0.918
24	Australia	4	4	5	26	21	2	3	70	13	+57	65	2.500
25	Yemen	10	1	1	70	17	13	40	75	139	–64	64	0.914
26	Turkmenistan	5	2	2	37	18	5	14	58	53	+5	59	1.567
27	Palestine	5	2	3	40	17	6	17	78	46	+32	57	1.425
28	Tajikistan	5	1	1	38	16	7	15	57	56	+1	55	1.447
29	Myanmar	6	1	1	45	16	5	24	60	120	–60	53	1.177
30	Kyrgyzstan	5	2	2	34	15	5	14	58	50	+8	50	1.470
31	Chinese Taipei	10	2	2	56	14	3	39	72	148	–76	45	0.803
32	Cambodia	6	1	1	47	12	5	30	44	140	–96	41	0.872
33	Philippines	9	1	1	45	11	7	27	45	116	–71	40	0.888
34	Afghanistan	6	0	0	41	6	10	25	34	109	–75	28	0.682
35	Bangladesh	9	1	1	53	5	13	37	33	140	–107	28	0.528
36	Maldives	6	0	0	45	8	3	34	40	134	–94	27	0.600
37	Sri Lanka	8	0	0	42	8	1	33	30	132	–102	25	0.595
38	Mongolia	4	0	0	20	7	1	12	20	41	–21	22	1.100
39	Macau	7	0	0	24	5	2	17	22	55	–33	17	0.708
40	Bhutan	4	0	0	32	5	2	25	22	166	–144	17	0.531
41	Pakistan	11	0	0	39	4	4	31	23	105	–82	16	0.410
42	Nepal	7	0	0	39	4	2	33	14	158	–144	14	0.358
43	Kazakhstan	2	0	0	8	4	0	4	9	9	0	12	1.500
44	Laos	4	0	0	19	3	3	13	13	62	–49	12	0.631
45	Israel	1	1	4	6	3	2	1	10	8	+2	11	1.833
46	Guam	5	0	0	26	3	1	24	13	122	–109	10	0.384
47	Brunei	6	0	0	15	2	1	12	6	59	–53	7	0.466
48	South Yemen	1	0	1	3	0	1	2	1	4	–3	1	0.333
49	East Timor	3	0	0	18	0	0	18	6	78	–72	0	0.000
50	Northern Mariana Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000

• AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification
• AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
• FIFA World Cup qualification
• FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
• UEFA European Championship qualifying
• UEFA Women's Championship qualifying
• CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification

• AFC Asian Cup Official Website
• AFC Asian Cup, AFC.com
• Asian Nations Cup, RSSSF archive
• Asian Nations Cup - All-Time Tables and Final Placings, RSSSF archive