• Pakistan is added back into the final qualifying round after Sri Lanka withdrew at the last minute. • 24 teams will be split into six groups of four, playing in a home and away format. The top two of each group will progress to the finals. Matches will start on 22 February 2006 and ends on 15 November 2006. • On 1 August 2006,
Lebanon officially withdrew from the competition after having played only one match, due to their ongoing
conflict with Israel.
Group A ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Group B ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- {{football box ---- ----
Group C ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Group D Note: Bahrain is ranked higher than Kuwait by the two head-to-head game results (Bahrain 2 – 1 Kuwait). ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 1 On 1 August 2006, it was announced that the AFC had accepted a withdrawal request from the
Federation Libanaise de Football due to the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The results of the Lebanon-Kuwait game on 22 February 2006 have been declared null and void and do not count towards the group rankings. The following fixtures were also canceled: • against Bahrain, 16 August 2006 (in Bahrain National Stadium, Manama, Bahrain) • against Australia, 31 August 2006 (in Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia) • against Bahrain, 6 September 2006 (in Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon) • against Kuwait, 11 October 2006 (in National Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait) • against Australia, 15 November 2006 (in Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon)
Group E Note: Iraq is ranked higher than China PR by the two head-to-head game results (Iraq 3 – 2 China PR). ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
1 All Iraq's home matches played in
Al Ayn, United Arab Emirates.
2 All Palestine's home matches played in
Amman, Jordan.
Group F {{footballbox ---- {{football box ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- == Qualified teams ==