The third round of 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification was played from 8 to 14 June 2022 in six centralised venues. It was originally scheduled for 30 March 2021 to 29 March 2022, but the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) changed the dates on multiple occasions due to postponements of matches in the second round, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.
A total of 24 teams (22 teams which advanced from the second round and two teams which advanced from the play-off round) participated in the third round to compete for the final eleven slots in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[1] Since the 2023 former hosts China advanced to the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the automatic slot for the hosts was no longer necessary.
The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four teams to play single round-robin matches in six centralised venues.[2] The group winners and the best five runners-up across all groups qualified for the Asian Cup, where they were joined by China and the twelve teams which qualified directly from the second round.[1]
On 17 February 2022, the AFC announced the six countries that would be hosting the third round: India, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.[3]
The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw on 24 February 2022.[4] Teams from the host countries were placed in a separate pot allotted for hosts member associations (MAs), although their final group positions reflected their original draw seeding.[3]
The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four. Each group contained one team from the host pot and the remaining seeding pots, except for the original seeding pot of the host country.[note 1]
The national teams which qualified are presented in bold.
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 were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 7.3):[1]
There were 104 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 2.89 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
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Zubayr Amiri Farshad Noor Faysal Shayesteh Mustafa Zazai
Kamil Al-Aswad
Brak Thiva Keo Sokpheng
Chan Siu Kwan Sun Ming Him Wong Wai
Anwar Ali Ishan Pandita Sahal Abdul Samad Manvir Singh
Elkan Baggott Dimas Drajad Fachruddin Aryanto Marselino Ferdinan Marc Klok Rachmat Irianto Saddil Ramdani
Hamza Al-Dardour Mahmoud Al-Mardi Yazan Al-Naimat Noor Al-Rawabdeh
Mobarak Al-Faneeni Fahad Al-Rashidi
Valery Kichin
Dion Cools La'Vere Corbin-Ong Faisal Halim Darren Lok Mohamadou Sumareh Syafiq Ahmad
Hamza Mohamed
Aung Kaung Mann Win Naing Tun
Darshan Gurung
Mahmoud Abu Warda Mohammed Rashid Tamer Seyam
Gerrit Holtmann
Hafiz Nor Gabriel Quak
Manuchekhr Dzhalilov Ehson Panjshanbe
Teerasil Dangda Pansa Hemviboon Worachit Kanitsribampen Thitiphan Puangchan Sarach Yooyen
Arslanmyrat Amanow
Dostonbek Khamdamov Farrukh Sayfiev Azizbek Turgunboev Oston Urunov1 own goal
Ahmed Al-Wajih (against Palestine)
