2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification

The qualification phase for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup saw four teams advance to the finals to join four automatic qualifiers in the final tournament in India. Qualification was held from 2 April to 28 May 2008 in four different venues. Sixteen teams participated in qualification in four groups containing four teams each. The four group winners joined hosts India, North Korea, Myanmar, and Turkmenistan in the final round.^[1]

Seedings

North Korea  Turkmenistan  India  Myanmar

5.  Tajikistan 6.  Sri Lanka 7.    Nepal 8.  Kyrgyzstan

9.  Palestine (Withdrew 14 May 2008) 10.  Chinese Taipei 11.  Bangladesh 12.  Brunei

13.  Pakistan 14.  Cambodia 15.  Philippines 16.  Afghanistan

17.  Bhutan 18.  Macau 19.  Guam 20.  Laos (Withdrew 2 May 2008)

The draw for the qualification groups was made on 18 January 2008 at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Qualification

Group A

• Matches played in Taipei, Chinese Taipei

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Sri Lanka	3	2	1	0	14	4	+10	7
Pakistan	3	2	0	1	12	10	+2	6
Chinese Taipei	3	1	1	1	7	5	+2	4
Guam	3	0	0	3	4	18	−14	0

Source: RSSSF

Sri Lanka	5–1	Guam
Bandanage 54' Siyaguna 55', 64' S. Mohamed 82' Jayasuriya 90+1'	Report	Mendiola 62'

2 April 2008

16:00 UTC+8

Chungshan Stadium, Taipei

Attendance: 300

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Chinese Taipei	1–2	Pakistan
Lo Chih-an 5'	Report	Essa 13' Masih 34'

2 April 2008

18:30 UTC+8

Chungshan Stadium, Taipei

Attendance: 800

Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)

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Pakistan	1–7	Sri Lanka
A. Ahmed 17'	Report	Jayasuriya 7', 42', 90+2' Bandanage 13' (pen.), 82' Dehiwalage 72', 77'

4 April 2008

16:00 UTC+8

Chungshan Stadium, Taipei

Attendance: 300

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Guam	1–4	Chinese Taipei
Pangelinan 17'	Report	Chang Han 20' Huang Wei-yi 28' Chen Po-liang 33' Chiang Shih-lu 44'

4 April 2008

18:30 UTC+8

Chungshan Stadium, Taipei

Attendance: 850

Referee: Win Cho (Myanmar)

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Pakistan	9–2	Guam
Anwar 9', 18' Shah 28' Qasim 44', 72', 82' T. Ahmed 62' Hameed 65' (pen.) Rehman 85'	Report	Pangelinan 74' I. Ahmed 80' (o.g.)

6 April 2008

16:00 UTC+8

Chungshan Stadium, Taipei

Attendance: 200

Referee: Kadhum Auda Lazim (Iraq)

Sri Lanka	2–2	Chinese Taipei
Chen Po-liang 59' (o.g.) Jayasuriya 86'	Report	Chang Han 28' Tsai Hsien-tang 74'

6 April 2008

18:30 UTC+8

Chungshan Stadium, Taipei

Attendance: 900

Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)

Group B

• Matches played in Iloilo City and Barotac Nuevo, Philippines

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Tajikistan	3	2	1	0	7	1	+6	7
Philippines	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7
Bhutan	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1
Brunei	3	0	1	2	1	6	−5	1

Source: RSSSF

Tajikistan	3–1	Bhutan
Hakimov 27' 88' (pen.) Rabiev 60'	Report	P. Tshering 69'

13 May 2008

15:30 UTC+8

Barotac Nuevo Plaza Field, Barotac Nuevo

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Ng Chiu Kok (Hong Kong)

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Brunei	0–1	Philippines
	Report	Caligdong 28'

13 May 2008

15:30 UTC+8

Iloilo Sports Complex, Iloilo City

Attendance: 3,500

Referee: Ali Saleem (Maldives)

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Philippines	0–0	Tajikistan
	Report

15 May 2008

15:30 UTC+8

Iloilo Sports Complex, Iloilo City

Attendance: 4,500

Referee: Ali Al-Badawi (United Arab Emirates)

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Bhutan	1–1	Brunei
Dendup 12'	Report	Bin Salleh 76'

15 May 2008

15:30 UTC+8

Barotac Nuevo Plaza Field, Barotac Nuevo

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Chaiya Mahapab (Thailand)

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Philippines	3–0	Bhutan
Gould 41' P. Younghusband 43' Rinchen 58' (o.g.)	Report

17 May 2008

15:30 UTC+8

Barotac Nuevo Plaza Field, Barotac Nuevo

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Ali Saleem (Maldives)

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Tajikistan	4–0	Brunei
Rabiev 46', 87' Mukhidinov 61' Hakimov 69'	Report

17 May 2008

15:30 UTC+8

Iloilo Sports Complex, Iloilo City

Attendance: 450

Referee: Ali Al-Badawi (United Arab Emirates)

Group C

• Matches played in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
• Laos withdrew on 2 May.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Afghanistan	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	4
Kyrgyzstan	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
Bangladesh	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1

Source: RSSSF

Bangladesh	0–0	Afghanistan
	Report

5 May 2008

17:30 UTC+6

Spartak Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Khalid Al-Senan (United Arab Emirates)

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Afghanistan	1–0	Kyrgyzstan
Yamrali 38'	Report

7 May 2008

17:30 UTC+6

Spartak Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Rosdi Shaharul (Malaysia)

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Kyrgyzstan	2–1	Bangladesh
Kornilov 83' Sydykov 87'	Report	Ameli 63'

9 May 2008

17:30 UTC+6

Spartak Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Atallah Jatli Al-Enezi (Kuwait)

Group D

• Matches played in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Palestine withdrew on 14 May.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Nepal	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2	6
Cambodia	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	3
Macau	2	0	0	2	3	6	−3	0

Source: RSSSF

Nepal	3–2	Macau
S. Rai 43' J.M. Rai 57', 65'	Report	Che Chi Man 29' (pen.) Chan Kin Seng 59'

24 May 2008

15:00 UTC+7

National Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Vo Minh Tri (Vietnam)

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Cambodia	0–1	Nepal
	Report	J.M. Rai 44'

26 May 2008

15:00 UTC+7

National Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)

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Cambodia	3–1	Macau
Sinoun 30', 90+2' Rithy 67'	Report	Che Chi Man 65'

28 May 2008

15:00 UTC+7

National Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Çarymyrat Gurbanow (Turkmenistan)

Final tournament

The final tournament, consisting of 8 teams, was held from 30 July to 13 August 2008 in India.

Qualifiers

Qualifiers for the final tournament were:

•  India - automatic qualifier
•  North Korea - automatic qualifier
•  Myanmar - automatic qualifier
•  Turkmenistan - automatic qualifier
•  Sri Lanka - Group A winner
•  Tajikistan - Group B winner
•  Afghanistan - Group C winner
•    Nepal - Group D winner

Goalscorers

5 goals Kasun Jayasuriya 3 goals Ju Manu Rai Muhammad Qasim Channa Ediri Bandanage Numonjon Hakimov Yusuf Rabiev 2 goals Nuth Sinoun Chang Han Zachary Pangelinan Che Chi Man Jamshed Anwar Nimal Dehiwalage Chathura Maduranga Siyaguna

1 goal Ata Yamrali Mohamed Hasan Ameli Nawang Dendup Passang Tshering Khayrun Bin Salleh Chan Rithy Chen Po-liang Chiang Shih-lu Huang Wei-yi Lo Chih-an Tsai Hsien-tang Christopher Mendiola Roman Kornilov Ruslan Sydykov Chan Kin Seng Sandip Rai

1 goal Adnan Ahmed Tanveer Ahmed Mohammad Essa Zahid Hameed Michael Masih Abdul Rehman Farooq Shah Emelio Caligdong Chad Gould Phil Younghusband Sabras Mohamed Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov Own goal Pema Rinchen (playing against Philippines) Chen Po-liang (playing against Sri Lanka) Iltaf Ahmed (playing against Guam)