Qualification for the Asian Football Confederation's 1988 AFC Asian Cup finals held in Qatar between 2 and 18 December. Saudi Arabia defeated Republic of Korea in the final match in Doha.
| Tourney Name: | 1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| Dates: | 4 February 1988 – 22 June 1988 |
| Num Teams: | 20 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Prevseason: | 1984 |
| Nextseason: | 1992 |
| width=25% | Group 1 | width=25% | Group 2 | width=25% | Group 3 | width=25% | Group 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top |
| Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | ||
| 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | –7 | ||
| 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | –8 | ||
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | –6 |
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| Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | –2 | ||
| 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | –11 |
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| Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | ||
| 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | ||
| 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | –5 | ||
| 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | –7 |
------------------------------------
| Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | –3 | ||
| 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | –3 |
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| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 December 1984 | ||||
| 17 February 1988 | ||||
| 16 February 1988 | ||||
| 18 April 1988 | ||||
| 18 April 1988 | 0 (debut) | |||
| 3 June 1988 | ||||
| 4 June 1988 | ||||
| 22 June 1988 | 0 (debut) | |||
| 22 June 1988 |