2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round

The play-off round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification was played between 5 and 10 September 2024.^[1]

2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round

Tournament details
Dates	5–10 September 2024
Teams	6 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	15 (2.5 per match)
Attendance	23,972 (3,995 per match)
Top scorer(s)	João Pedro (3 goals)
← 2023 2031 →

Format

When the play-off round was originally announced, a total of ten teams (the 2nd to 10th ranked losing teams from the first round plus the Northern Mariana Islands) would play home-and-away over two legs to determine the final five qualifiers for the third round.^[2][3] However, Guam withdrew and the Northern Mariana Islands were not included in the draw for the play-off round announced on 1 May 2024.^[4] This resulted in the top three losing teams (Bhutan, Maldives, and Laos) moving directly to the third round, and the remaining six teams entering the play-offs.^[5] The play-off winners joined the 21 teams which advanced directly to the third round (three best ranked losing teams from the first round and 18 teams from the second round) to compete for the final six slots in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

Qualified teams

The teams participating in this round were decided by their ranking from the preliminary round.

•  Cambodia
•  Sri Lanka
•  Macau
•  Mongolia
•  Timor-Leste
•  Brunei

Draw

The draw for the play-off round was held on 9 May 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[5] These six teams were divided into three pairings, with each pair playing home and away between 5 and 10 September 2024. The numbers in parentheses indicate the FIFA Men's World Ranking of April 2024. The team from Pot 2 hosted the first leg, and the team from Pot 1 hosted the second leg.

Pot 1	Pot 2
Cambodia (179)  Macau (186)  Mongolia (191)	Brunei (194)  Timor-Leste (198)  Sri Lanka (204)

Summary

The three winners advanced to the third round of qualifying.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sri Lanka	2–2 (4–2 p)	Cambodia	0–0	2–2 (a.e.t.)
Timor-Leste	4–3	Mongolia	4–1	0–2
Brunei	4–0	Macau	3–0	1–0

Matches

5 September 2024 (2024-09-05)

17:45 UTC+5:30

Sri Lanka	0–0	Cambodia
	Report

Colombo Racecourse, Colombo

Attendance: 2,955

Referee: Sultan Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10)

19:00 UTC+7

Cambodia	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Sri Lanka
Sosidan 50' Suhana 98'	Report	Kelaart 37' Kammerknecht 120+2'
Penalties
Taylor Chanpolin Pisoth Visal	2–4	Hingert Durrant Kelaart Perera

Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 14,178

Referee: Asker Nadjafaliyev (Uzbekistan)

2–2 on aggregate. Sri Lanka won 4–2 on penalties.

---

5 September 2024 (2024-09-05)

15:30 UTC+8

Timor-Leste	4–1	Mongolia
João Pedro 3', 27', 52' Zenivio 58'	Report	Mijiddorj 34'

Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar (Indonesia)^{[note 1]}

Attendance: 108

Referee: Daniel Elder (Australia)

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10)

16:00 UTC+8

Mongolia	2–0	Timor-Leste
Törbat 8' Dölgöön 54'	Report

MFF Football Centre, Ulaanbaatar

Attendance: 1,569

Referee: Ahmad Alaeddin (Lebanon)

Timor-Leste won 4–3 on aggregate.

---

6 September 2024 (2024-09-06)

21:00 UTC+8

Brunei	3–0	Macau
Hakeme S. 32' Nazry A. 56' Hariz H. 61'	Report

Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan

Attendance: 3,794

Referee: Crystal John (India)

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10)

19:30 UTC+8

Macau	0–1	Brunei
	Report	Azwan A. R. 10'

Centro Desportivo Olímpico - Estádio, Taipa

Attendance: 1,368

Referee: Nurzatbek Abdıkadırov (Kyrgyzstan)

Brunei won 4–0 on aggregate.

Goalscorers

There were 15 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match.

3 goals

• João Pedro

1 goal

• Abdul Hariz Herman
• Azwan Ali Rahman
• Hakeme Yazid Said
• Nazry Aiman Azaman
• Nhean Sosidan
• Sos Suhana
• Dölgöön Amaraa
• Törbat Daginaa
• Oyunbaataryn Mijiddorj
• Claudio Kammerknecht
• Oliver Kelaart
• Zenivio

Notes

1. Timor-Leste played their home game in Gianyar, due to the National Stadium in Dili failing to meet FIFA standards.