2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification


The qualification process for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup football competition began on March 2003. Out of the 45 AFC members only Cambodia and the Philippines failed to enter for the tournament. Both China, the hosts and Japan, the reigning champions automatically qualified for the finals. The lowest ranked 20 teams were placed in 6 preliminary qualifying groups of 3 and one group of 2, with the group winners joining the remaining 21 teams in 7 groups of 4. The top two of each of these groups qualified for the finals in China.

Preliminary round

Group A


All matches played in Malé, Maldives
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Group B


All matches played in Colombo, Sri Lanka
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Group C


All matches played in Kathmandu, Nepal
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Group D


All matches played in Hong Kong
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Group E


All matches played in Singapore
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Group F


All matches played in Thimphu, Bhutan
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Group G


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Qualifying round

Group A


Played in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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Played in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Group B


NB: All Palestine's home matches played away.
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Group C


Played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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Group D


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1The match was abandoned with half an hour left and Iran winning 1-0 after North Korea walked off when their fans threw firecrackers on the pitch and refused to go back. The match was awarded 3–0 to Iran, but on the other hand, Iran were ordered to play their next home match in an official AFC or FIFA competition behind closed doors.
2 The match was not played after North Korean immigration officials did not issue visas to Jordan's team, meaning they were refused entry into the country. The match was awarded 3–0 to Jordan and North Korea were banned from AFC competitions for a year and from qualifying for the 2007 Asian Cup.

Group E


Played in Incheon, Korea Republic.
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Played in Muscat, Oman.
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Group F


Played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Played in Manama, Bahrain.
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Group G


NB: All of Sri Lanka's home matches were played away.
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1 Syria failed to show up for the match. The match was awarded 3–0 to Turkmenistan.