In the standings below, half of the scheduled games have been played by each team. A total of 43 Asian teams began the competition. All but the 10 below have been eliminated.
Group A P W D L GF GA GD Pts FIFA
S. Korea 4 2 1 1 9 4 +5 7 25
Iran 4 2 1 1 2 1 +1 7 58
Uzbekistan 4 1 2 1 4 4 0 5 70
Qatar 4 1 1 2 2 5 – 3 4 101
Lebanon 4 1 1 2 2 5 – 3 4 109
Uzbekistan 0, IRAN 1
Lebanon 0, Qatar 1
Qatar 1, S. Korea 4
Lebanon 1, Uzbekistan 1 tie
S. Korea 3, Lebanon 0
IRAN 0, Qatar 0 tie
Uzbekistan 2, S, Korea 2 tie
Lebanon 1, IRAN 0
Qatar 0, Uzbekistan 1
IRAN 1, S. Korea 0
IRAN vs Uzbekistan, November 14
Qatar vs Lebanon, November 14
S. Korea vs Qatar, March 26
Uzbekistan vs Lebanon, March 26
Lebanon vs S. Korea, June 4
Qatar vs IRAN, June 4
IRAN vs Lebanon, June 11
S. Korea vs Uzbekistan, June 11
Uzbekistan vs Qatar, June 18
S. Korea vs Iran, June 18
Group B P W D L GF GA GD Pts FIFA
Japan 4 3 1 0 11 1 +10 10 23
Australia 4 1 2 1 4 4 0 5 34
Oman 4 1 2 1 3 5 – 2 5 95
Jordan 4 1 1 2 4 10 – 6 4 78
Iraq 4 0 2 2 3 5 – 2 2 80
Japan 3. Oman 0
Jordan 1, Iraq 1 tie
Oman 0, Australia 0 tie
Japan 6, Jordan 0
Australia 1, Japan 1 tie
Iraq 1, Oman 1 tie
Japan 1, Iraq 0
Jordan 2, Australia 0
Oman 2, Jordan 1
Iraq 1, Australia 2
Iraq vs Jordan, November 14
Oman vs Japan, November 14
Australia vs Oman, March 26
Jordan vs Japan, March 26
Japan vs Australia, June 4
Oman vs Iraq, June 4
Iraq vs Japan, June 11
Australia vs Jordan, June 11
Jordan vs Oman, June 18
Australia vs Iraq, June 18
In the scores and schedule above, home teams are listed first. This week’s games are shaded.
The final column shows the global ranking of each team as compiled by computer for FIFA, the governing body of international soccer. The rankings are as of early this month.
This round ends next June after each team has played eight games—home-and-away matches against each of the other four teams in its group.
The top two teams in each group go to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.
Third teams in each group play a home-and-away pair against each other. The winner plays a home-and-away pair against the fifth-placed team from Latin America. The winner of that matchup goes to the finals in Brazil. In other words, either four or five of the above Asian teams will go to the finals, in which 32 teams will appear.