2016 AFC Futsal Championship qualification explained

Tourney Name:	AFC Futsal Championship qualification
Year:	2016
Dates:	1–3 October 2015 (West) 8–16 October 2015 (ASEAN) 14–16 November 2015 (Central) 14–19 November 2015 (East)
Num Teams:	26
Confederations:	1
Top Scorer:	Ahmed Abdelalrhman (West) ^[1] Daniel Fogarty Jetsada Chudech (ASEAN) ^[2] Akbar Kazemi (Central) ^[3] Oh Hyun-jong (East) ^[4]
Prevseason:	2014
Nextseason:	2018

The 2016 AFC Futsal Championship qualification was a men's futsal competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 AFC Futsal Championship. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan (hosts), who qualified directly as the top three finishers of the 2014 AFC Futsal Championship. Since third-placed Uzbekistan qualified automatically as hosts, Kuwait, who finished fourth, would have also qualified as the next best-ranked team,^[5] but they were later replaced due to FIFA's suspension of the Kuwait Football Association.^[6]

The top five teams of the final tournament qualified for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia.^[7]

Teams

A total of 26 AFC member national teams entered the qualifying stage, split into zones according to their regional affiliations.^{[5] [8]}

• West Asia had seven entrants, where they were drawn into one group of four teams and one group of three teams.
• Central Asia had four entrants, where they were all placed in one group.
• South Asia had no entrants.
• ASEAN had ten entrants, with the 2015 AFF Futsal Championship doubling as the ASEAN qualifiers, where they were drawn into two groups of five teams.
• East Asia had five entrants, where they were all placed in one group.

The draw for the qualifiers was held on 2 September 2015 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[8] Only the groups in West Asia were drawn, as no draw was necessary for Central Asia and East Asia, and the draw for the 2015 AFF Futsal Championship had already been held on 16 June 2015 in Singapore.^[9]

Apart from the four direct qualifiers, the remaining twelve slots in the final tournament were allocated as follows:

• Each zone (except South Asia) was allocated a minimum of two slots.
• Additional slots were allocated based on the technical standard team ranking from fourth to seventh placing in the 2014 AFC Futsal Championship, with West Asia (4th and 7th) and ASEAN (5th and 6th) each allocated two additional slots.^[8]

	Slots + Direct qualifiers	Teams entering qualification	Did not enter
West Zone	4 slots + ^1	valign=top		valign=top	(withdrew)
Central Zone	2 slots + +	valign=top		None
South Zone	0 slots	None	valign=top
ASEAN Zone	4 slots	valign=top		valign=top	(suspended by FIFA)^[10]
East Zone	2 slots +	valign=top		valign=top	(forgot sign up)^[11] ^2

Notes

¹ Later replaced by the next best team from the West Zone qualifiers due to FIFA's suspension of the Kuwait Football Association.^[6]

² Non-FIFA member, ineligible for World Cup.

Format

In each group, teams played each other once at a centralised venue. The top two teams of each group (total 12 teams) qualified for the final tournament.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order:^[12]

1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;
5. Goal difference in all the group matches;
6. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
8. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
9. Drawing of lots.

Zones

The matches were played on the following dates:^[13]

• West Zone: 1–3 October 2015
• ASEAN Zone: 8–16 October 2015
• Central Zone: 14–16 November 2015
• East Zone: 14–19 November 2015

West Zone

• For the draw, the teams were seeded according to their performance in the previous season in 2014.
  • Pot 1: Iraq, Lebanon
  • Pot 2: Qatar, Saudi Arabia
  • Pot 3: Bahrain, United Arab Emirates
  • Pot 4: Jordan
• All matches were held in Malaysia.
• Times listed were UTC+8.

Group A

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Group B

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ASEAN Zone

See main article: 2015 AFF Futsal Championship.

• All matches were held in Thailand. The tournament was originally to be held in Indonesia before the suspension of its football association.
• Times listed were UTC+7.

Final

Central Zone

• All matches were held in Tajikistan.
• Times listed were UTC+5.

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East Zone

• All matches were held in Mongolia.
• Times listed were UTC+8.

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Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament^3
			(1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(debut)
			(debut)
			(2005, 2012)
			(2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014)
			(1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014)
			(2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(2005, 2010, 2014)
			(1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
			(2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)

³ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

External links

• , the-AFC.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2016 AFC Futsal Championship qualification (West). AFC.
2. Web site: Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2016 AFC Futsal Championship qualification (ASEAN). AFC.
3. Web site: Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2016 AFC Futsal Championship qualification (Central). AFC.
4. Web site: Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2016 AFC Futsal Championship qualification (East). AFC.
5. Web site: Stage set for AFC Futsal Championship Uzbekistan 2016 Qualifiers draw . the-afc.com . 1 September 2015.
6. Web site: Saudi Arabia replace Kuwait at AFC Futsal C'ship 2016. AFC. 19 November 2015.
7. Web site: La FIFA ratificó la distribución de plazas que corresponden a cada confederación. CONMEBOL.com. 4 April 2014. Spanish.
8. Web site: AFC Futsal Championship 2016 Qualifiers draw concluded . AFC . 4 December 2014.
9. News: New Hosts for AFF Tournaments following PSSI Suspension . 16 June 2015 . ASEAN Football Federation . 16 June 2015 . Singapore.
10. Web site: Impact of Football Association of Indonesia suspension . AFC . 3 June 2015.
11. Web site: 五人足球無緣亞洲盃. Macao Daily. 26 September 2015.
12. Web site: AFC Futsal Championship 2016 Competition Regulations. AFC.
13. Web site: AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015 . AFC . PDF.