1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Qualification for the Asian Football Confederation's 1988 AFC Asian Cup finals held in Qatar between 2 and 18 December. Saudi Arabia defeated Republic of Korea in the final match in Doha.

1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Tournament details
Dates	4 February 1988 – 22 June 1988
Teams	20 (from 1 confederation)
← 1984 1992 →

Groups

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
Bangladesh  China  India  North Yemen  Thailand  United Arab Emirates	Iraq *  Japan  Jordan  Kuwait  Malaysia  Pakistan	Hong Kong  Iran    Nepal  North Korea  Singapore *  Syria	Bahrain  Burma *  Indonesia  Oman *  South Korea  South Yemen

• * Withdrew

Qualification

Group 1

• All matches played in United Arab Emirates.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
United Arab Emirates	9	5	4	1	0	12	1	+11
China	8	5	3	2	0	10	0	+10
North Yemen	5	5	1	3	1	5	5	0
Thailand	4	5	1	2	2	5	12	–7
Bangladesh	3	5	0	3	2	1	9	–8
India	1	5	0	1	4	0	6	–6

4 February 1988

United Arab Emirates	3–0	Thailand

United Arab Emirates

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5 February 1988

China	0–0	North Yemen

United Arab Emirates

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6 February 1988

Bangladesh	0–0	India
	Report

United Arab Emirates

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7 February 1988

United Arab Emirates	2–1	North Yemen

United Arab Emirates

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8 February 1988

China	4–0	Bangladesh

United Arab Emirates

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9 February 1988

India	0–1	Thailand

United Arab Emirates

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10 February 1988

United Arab Emirates	0–0	China

United Arab Emirates

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11 February 1988

North Yemen	1–0	India
Mohammed Al Sharani 83'

United Arab Emirates

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12 February 1988

Thailand	1–1	Bangladesh
Natee Thongsookkaew 50'		Ahmed Ali 44'

United Arab Emirates

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13 February 1988

United Arab Emirates	3–0	India
Khamees 59' Mohamed 63' Al Talyani 67'	Report

United Arab Emirates

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14 February 1988

China	5–0	Thailand

United Arab Emirates

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14 February 1988

North Yemen	0–0	Bangladesh

United Arab Emirates

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16 February 1988

China	1–0	India
Liu Haiguang 30'	Report

United Arab Emirates

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16 February 1988

North Yemen	3–3	Thailand

United Arab Emirates

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17 February 1988

United Arab Emirates	4–0	Bangladesh

United Arab Emirates

Group 2

• All matches played in Malaysia.
• Iraq were originally drawn in this group, but they withdrew on 6 April 1988 in protest at the AFC changing the fixtures schedule at late notice.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Kuwait	7	4	3	1	0	9	0	+9
Japan	5	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3
Jordan	5	4	1	3	0	2	1	+1
Malaysia	3	4	1	1	2	4	6	–2
Pakistan	0	4	0	0	4	1	12	–11

7 April 1988

Malaysia	4–0	Pakistan
Mat Din 49' Hassan 79', 80' Salleh 84'	Report

Malaysia

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8 April 1988

Kuwait	1–0	Japan

Malaysia

---

10 April 1988

Jordan	1–0	Pakistan
Al-Turk 44'	Report

Malaysia

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11 April 1988

Malaysia	0–1	Japan

Malaysia

---

12 April 1988

Kuwait	0–0	Jordan

Malaysia

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14 April 1988

Malaysia	0–0	Jordan

Malaysia

---

15 April 1988

Kuwait	3–0	Pakistan
Al-Haddad ?' Al-Anezi ?' Hussain ?'	Report

Malaysia

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16 April 1988

Japan	1–1	Jordan

Malaysia

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18 April 1988

Malaysia	0–5	Kuwait

Malaysia

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18 April 1988

Japan	4–1	Pakistan
Maeda 3' Oenoki 37' Matsuyama 69' Minoguchi 88'	Report	Sarwar 63'

Malaysia

Group 3

• All matches played in Nepal.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Syria	7	4	3	1	0	8	2	+6
Iran	6	4	2	2	0	6	1	+5
North Korea	5	4	2	1	1	3	2	+1
Hong Kong	1	4	0	1	3	0	5	–5
Nepal	1	4	0	1	3	0	7	–7

25 May 1988

Nepal	0–0	Hong Kong

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

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26 May 1988

Syria	2–1	North Korea
Al Nasser 28' Kareghli 90'		Kang Myong-sam 45'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

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27 May 1988

Iran	2–0	Hong Kong
Ghayeghran 9' Marfavi 73'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Xu Bingsheng (China)

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27 May 1988

Nepal	0–1	North Korea
		Ju Kyong-shik 52'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

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29 May 1988

Syria	1–1	Iran
Siflan 13'		Bavi 73'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Abdulaziz Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

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31 May 1988

North Korea	1–0	Hong Kong
Kim Kwang-min 22'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

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1 June 1988

Nepal	0–3	Syria
		unknown Ahmed 23' Al Nasser 65'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

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2 June 1988

Iran	0–0	North Korea

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Abdulaziz Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

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3 June 1988

Syria	2–0	Hong Kong
Kardeghli 48' Mahrous 73'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

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4 June 1988

Nepal	0–3	Iran
		Bavi 6', 53', 67'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Abdulaziz Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

Group 4

• All matches played in Indonesia.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Bahrain	5	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4
South Korea	3	3	1	1	1	5	3	+2
Indonesia	3	3	1	1	1	1	4	–3
South Yemen	1	3	0	1	2	1	4	–3

17 June 1988

Indonesia	1–0	South Yemen

Jakarta, Indonesia

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17 June 1988

Bahrain	2–0	South Korea

Jakarta, Indonesia

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19 June 1988

South Korea	1–1	South Yemen

Jakarta, Indonesia

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19 June 1988

Indonesia	0–0	Bahrain

Jakarta, Indonesia

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22 June 1988

Bahrain	2–0	South Yemen

Jakarta, Indonesia

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22 June 1988

Indonesia	0–4	South Korea

Jakarta, Indonesia

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Qualified teams

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearance
Qatar	Hosts	N/A	2 (1980, 1984)
Saudi Arabia	1984 AFC Asian Cup champions	16 December 1984	1 (1984)
United Arab Emirates	Group 1 winners	17 February 1988	1 (1980, 1984)
China	Group 1 runners-up	16 February 1988	3 (1976, 1980, 1984)
Kuwait	Group 2 winners	18 April 1988	4 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984)
Japan	Group 2 runners-up	18 April 1988	0 (debut)
Syria	Group 3 winners	3 June 1988	2 (1980, 1984)
Iran	Group 3 runners-up	4 June 1988	5 (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984)
Bahrain	Group 4 winners	22 June 1988	0 (debut)
South Korea	Group 4 runners-up	22 June 1988	6 (1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984)