The Asian Football Confederation was allocated two assured qualifying berths for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. 26 teams were in the running for these spots; Bahrain, India, Maldives and South Yemen withdrew without playing a qualifying match.
Format
• First round: The Maldives withdrew before the final draw, leaving 25 teams to be divided into 6 groups of 4 or 5 teams each. Nepal was moved from Group 5 to Group 4 after India's withdrawal. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, except in Group 4, where the teams played against each other twice in South Korea and Singapore. The group winners would advance to the final round. • Final round: The 6 teams played against each other once over a 16-day period based in Singapore. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. ==First round==
First round
Group 1Qatar advanced to the final round. Group 2Saudi Arabia advanced to the final round. Group 3United Arab Emirates advanced to the final round. Group 4Korea Republic advanced to the final round. Group 5China advanced to the final round. Group 6Korea DPR advanced to the final round. ==Final round==
Final round
StandingsKorea Republic and the United Arab Emirates qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Results ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ==Qualified teams==
Qualified teams
The following two teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament. :1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year. ==Goalscorers==