2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Tournament details
Dates	12 March 2015 – 10 October 2017
Teams	45[note 1] (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	223
Goals scored	665 (2.98 per match)
Attendance	4,377,585 (19,630 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mohammad Al-Sahlawi[A] Ahmed Khalil (16 goals each)
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The Asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, held in Russia, for national teams which were members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). 4.5 slots (four direct slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament were available for AFC teams.^[1]

On 16 April 2014, the AFC Executive Committee approved a proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup, which expanded to 24 teams starting in 2019.^[2] Therefore, the first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers also acted as qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

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