2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC First Round


The first round of AFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification was played from 12 to 23 March 2015.

Format

A total of 12 teams played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.

Seeding

The draw for the first round was held on 10 February 2015, 15:30 MST, at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015. The 12 teams were seeded into two pots:
Each tie contained a team from Pot A and a team from Pot B, with the team from Pot A hosting the first leg.
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the second round.
Pot APot B

Summary

Matches

India won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
----
Yemen won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
----
Timor-Leste won the first leg 4–1 and the second leg 1–0, thus winning 5–1 on aggregate and advancing to the Second Round. On 12 December 2017 FIFA awarded both matches 3–0 to Mongolia due to Timor-Leste fielding numerous ineligible players. However, this was long after the Second Round had been played so Timor-Leste advanced and Mongolia were not reinstated.
----
Cambodia won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
----
Chinese Taipei won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.
----
Bhutan won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the second round.

Goalscorers

There were 24 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of goals per match.
;2 goals
;1 goal