1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round

July 2025 International football competition March 2025 The AFC second round of 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification was contested between the ten group winners from the first round split across two groups. The top country in each group at the end of the stage progressed to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, with the two runners-up facing each other in a play-off. The winner of this play-off progressed to the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the loser went on to compete for a place in the World Cup in the AFC–OFC inter-confederation play-off. Group A main WDL Group A Q y complete KSA KSA IRN IRN CHN CHN QAT QAT KUW KUW 4 2 2 8 6 3 3 2 13 8 3 2 3 11 14 3 1 4 7 10 2 2 4 7 8 green1 1998 FIFA World Cup A blue1 Third round B RSSSF China v Iran 13 September 1997 16:15 UTC+8 CHN 2–4 IRN Fan Zhiyi 44 pen.Li Ming 54 Bagheri 61 pen.Mahdavikia 67 73Roosta 86 Jinzhou Stadium, Dalian 31,000 Park Hae Yong (South Korea) https://web.archive.org/web/20120522081926/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8663/report.html Saudi Arabia v Kuwait 14 September 1997 20:30 KSA 2–1 KUW Mehalel 43Al-Thuniyan 55 Abdullah 18 King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh 21,500 Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates) https://web.archive.org/web/20120731170625/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8664/report.html Iran v Saudi Arabia 19 September 1997 18:00 IRN 1–1 KSA Bagheri 64 Al-Sharani 32 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 120,000 Masayoshi Okada (Japan) https://web.archive.org/web/20120522081102/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8665/report.html Qatar v Kuwait 19 September 1997 18:30 QAT 0–2 KUW Al-Huwaidi 16Abdulaziz 88 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha 10,000 Jamal Al-Sharif (Syria) https://web.archive.org/web/20120731205930/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8666/report.html Qatar v China 26 September 1997 18:15 QAT 1–1 CHN Nasir Khamees 10 Hao Haidong 67 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha 9,000 Mahmoud Nurilddin (Iraq) https://web.archive.org/web/20120903075009/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8667/report.html Kuwait v Iran 26 September 1997 19:15 KUW 1–1 IRN Al-Huwaidi 20 Bagheri 90 Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City 25,000 Jimdamai Russamee (Thailand) https://web.archive.org/web/20120522075006/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8668/report.html China v Saudi Arabia 3 October 1997 16:15 CHN 1–0 KSA Zhang Enhua 69 Jinzhou Stadium, Dalian 30,000 Pirom Un-Prasert (Thailand) https://web.archive.org/web/20120903075715/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8670/report.html Iran v Qatar 3 October 1997 17:00 IRN 3–0 QAT Daei 31Bagheri 42 56 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 70,000 Sidi Magassa (Mali) https://web.archive.org/web/20120522081931/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8669/report.html Kuwait v China 10 October 1997 19:00 KUW 1–2 CHN Al-Huwaidi 24 Hao Haidong 3Gao Feng 89 Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City 25,000 Eddie Lennie (Australia) https://web.archive.org/web/20120731170635/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8671/report.html Saudi Arabia v Qatar 11 October 1997 KSA 1–0 QAT Mehalel 66 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh 15,000 Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt) https://web.archive.org/web/20120919040259/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8672/report.html Kuwait v Saudi Arabia 17 October 1997 KUW 2–1 KSA Abdulaziz 48Mubarak 67 Al-Muwallid 31 Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City 15,000 Said Belqola (Morocco) https://web.archive.org/web/20120731112637/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8673/report.html Iran v China 17 October 1997 IRN 4–1 CHN Mansourian 2Roosta 44Bagheri 69Ali Daei 73 Mao Yijun 87 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 100,000 Ahmad Nabil Ayad (Lebanon) https://web.archive.org/web/20120522075740/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8674/report.html Saudi Arabia v Iran 24 October 1997 KSA 1–0 IRN Al-Muwallid 88 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh 55,000 Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico) https://web.archive.org/web/20120522075011/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8675/report.html Kuwait v Qatar 24 October 1997 KUW 0–1 QAT Al-Noobi 10 Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City 18,000 Nazri Abdullah Mohamed (Malaysia) https://web.archive.org/web/20120823160759/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8676/report.html China v Qatar 31 October 1997 CHN 2–3 QAT Gao Feng 19Fan Zhiyi 80 Al-Naemi 44Al-Enazi 54Al-Kuwari 60 Jinzhou Stadium, Dalian 35,000 Santhan Nagalingam (Singapore) https://web.archive.org/web/20120828224757/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8677/report.html Iran v Kuwait 31 October 1997 IRN 0–0 KUW Azadi Stadium, Tehran 100,000 Pirom Un-Prasert (Thailand) https://web.archive.org/web/20120723035325/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8678/report.html Saudi Arabia v China 6 November 1997 KSA 1–1 CHN Al-Muwallid 4 Hao Haidong 10 King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh 70,000 David Elleray (England) https://web.archive.org/web/20120903080353/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8679/report.html Qatar v Iran 7 November 1997 QAT 2–0 IRN Al-Enazi 38 81 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha 20,000 Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) https://web.archive.org/web/20120522081107/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8680/report.html China v Kuwait 12 November 1997 CHN 1–0 KUW Ma Mingyu 32FIFA report made a mistake here, the scorer is Ma Mingyu. Jinzhou Stadium, Dalian Arturo Angeles (United States) https://web.archive.org/web/20120731122656/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8681/report.html Qatar v Saudi Arabia 12 November 1997 QAT 0–1 KSA Al-Shahrani 61 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark) https://web.archive.org/web/20130118084347/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1013/preliminaries/preliminary=895/matches/match=8682/report.html Group B main WDL Group B Q y complete KOR KOR 1997 JPN JPN 1870 UAE UAE UZB UZB KAZ KAZ 6 1 1 19 7 3 4 1 17 9 2 3 3 9 12 1 3 4 13 18 1 3 4 7 19 green1 1998 FIFA World Cup A blue1 Third round B RSSSF South Korea vs Kazakhstan 6 September 1997 19:00 UTC+9 KOR 1984 3–0 KAZ Choi Yong-soo 24 67 74 Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul 41,219 Santhan Nagalingam (Singapore) Report Japan vs Uzbekistan 7 September 1997 19:00 UTC+9 JPN 1870 6–3 UZB Miura 4 pen. 40 64 80Nakata 40Jo 44 Shatskikh 56 77Fyodorov 69 pen. National Stadium, Tokyo 54,328 Abdul Rahman Al-Zaid (Saudi Arabia) Report South Korea vs Uzbekistan 12 September 1997 KOR 1984 2–1 UZB Choi Yong-soo 15Lee Sang-yoon 87 Shatskikh 74 Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul 70,000 Wei Jihong (China) Report UAE vs Kazakhstan 12 September 1997 UAE 4–0 KAZ Ali 20Obaid 48Zuhair Bakheet 75Mubarak 85 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi 15,000 Pirom Un-Prasert (Thailand) Report UAE vs Japan 19 September 1997 UAE 0–0 JPN 1870 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi 40,000 Nazri Abdullah Mohamed (Malaysia) Report Kazakhstan vs Uzbekistan 20 September 1997 KAZ 1–1 UZB Baltiyev 84 Shatskikh 85 Central Stadium, Almaty 12,000 Ahmad Nabil Ayad (Lebanon) Report Uzbekistan vs UAE 27 September 1997 UZB 2–3 UAE Shirshov 10Bazarov 90 Zuhair Bakheet 51Alabadla 60Adnan Al Talyani 85 Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent 50,000 Jalal Moradi (Iran) Report Japan vs South Korea 28 September 1997 JPN 1870 1–2 KOR 1984 Yamaguchi 67 Seo Jung-won 83Lee Min-sung 86 National Stadium, Tokyo 56,704 Saad Mane (Kuwait) Report South Korea vs UAE 4 October 1997 KOR 1997 3–0 UAE Ha Seok-ju 8Yoo Sang-chul 69Lee Sang-yoon 81 Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul Lucien Bouchardeau (Niger) Report Kazakhstan vs Japan 4 October 1997 KAZ 1–1 JPN 1870 Zubarev 90+2 Akita 23 Central Stadium, Almaty 10,000 Taj Addin Fares (Syria) Report Uzbekistan vs Japan 11 October 1997 UZB 1–1 JPN 1870 Kambaraliev 30 Lopes 89 Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent 54,000 Sultan Mujalli Al Aalaq (Bahrain) Report Kazakhstan vs South Korea 11 October 1997 KAZ 1–1 KOR 1997 Yevteyev 50 Choi Yong-soo 5 Central Stadium, Almaty 15,000 Omar Abu Loom (Jordan) Report Uzbekistan vs South Korea 18 October 1997 UZB 1–5 KOR 1997 Fedorov 61 pen. Choi Yong-soo 19 41Yoo Sang-chul 38Ko Jeong-woon 57Kim Do-hoon 70 Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent 38,000 Abdul Khudheir Abdul Hussein (Iraq) Report Kazakhstan vs UAE 18 October 1997 KAZ 3–0 UAE Sparyshev 55Yevteyev 64Yurist 75 Central Stadium, Almaty 18,000 Nik Ahmad Haji Yaakub (Malaysia) Report Uzbekistan vs Kazakhstan 25 October 1997 UZB 4–0 KAZ Shkvyrin 19 33Fedorov 44Kasimov 71 Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent 25,000 Hassan Al Ajmi (Oman) Report Japan vs UAE 26 October 1997 JPN 1870 1–1 UAE Lopes 4 Mubarak 37 National Stadium, Tokyo 56,000 Rodrigo Badilla (Costa Rica) Report South Korea vs Japan 1 November 1997 KOR 1997 0–2 JPN 1870 Nanami 2Lopes 37 Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul 75,000 Esse Baharmast (United States) Report UAE vs Uzbekistan 2 November 1997 UAE 0–0 UZB Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi 30,000 Khaled Dalu (Syria) Report Japan vs Kazakhstan 8 November 1997 JPN 1870 5–1 KAZ Akita 11Nakata 15Nakayama 44Ihara 66Takagi 88 Yevteyev 73 National Stadium, Tokyo 56,032 Mario van der Ende (Netherlands) Report UAE vs South Korea 9 November 1997 UAE 1–3 KOR 1997 Zuhair Bakheet 58 Lee Sang-yoon 11Kim Do-hoon 42 67 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi 1,800 Piero Ceccarini (Italy) Report References External links RSSSF Page Category:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Qual Category:Saudi Arabia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Category:Japan at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Category:Iran at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Category:South Korea at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Category:1997 in Chinese men's football Category:1997 in Kazakhstani football Category:1997 in Uzbekistani football Category:1997–98 in Emirati football Category:1997–98 in Kuwaiti football Category:1997–98 in Qatari football