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. The qualification structure is as follows:
First round: A total of 12 teams played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
Second round: A total of 40 teams 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 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.
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. 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 2019 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.
Entrants
46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification. In order to determine which nations would compete in the first round and which nations would receive a bye through to the second round, the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015 were used.
Bye to second round
Competing in first round
Due to the joint format of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, the hosts of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the United Arab Emirates also entered the second round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers despite having qualified automatically. Northern Mariana Islands, which is not a FIFA member, were not eligible to enter.
Schedule
The schedule of the qualification competition is as follows.
First round
The draw for the first round was held on 10 February 2015, 15:30 MST, at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The six teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.
As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.
Ranking of fourth-placed teams
To determine the four best fourth-placed teams, the following criteria were used:
Points
Goal difference
Goals scored
Fair play points
Drawing of lots
As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team are not counted when determining the ranking of the fourth-placed teams.
Play-off round
At an AFC Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that two rounds of play-off matches would be introduced into the qualification procedure to determine the final eight teams for the main qualifying round. A total of eight slots for the third round were available from this round. The three teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup. The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 April 2016, 15:00 MYT, at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Round [|1]
The lowest seeded team, Bhutan, received a bye, and the remaining ten teams were drawn into five pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.
Round [|2]
The five losers from round 1 joined Bhutan in this round. The six teams were drawn into three pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.
Third round
A total of 24 teams competed in the third round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Since the 2019 hosts United Arab Emirates advanced to the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the automatic slot for the hosts was no longer necessary, and a total of 12 slots for the AFC Asian Cup were available from this round. Due to the withdrawal of Guam and the suspension of Kuwait, the AFC decided to invite both Nepal and Macau, the top two teams of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, to re-enter 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification as replacements in order to maintain 24 teams in the third round of the competition. The draw for the third round was held on 23 January 2017, 16:00, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four.
Groups
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Qualified teams
The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.
