2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round

Format

The 10 teams (2 teams from each group in the third round) were divided into four pots for the draw, three containing two teams and one containing four. The seeding for the fourth round was based on that used in the third round draw, but Saudi Arabia and Japan (seeded equal 4th in that draw) were separated by a random selection held at the start of the fourth round draw. The pots were as follows:

The 10 teams were split into two groups of five teams each – each containing one team from each of Pots 1, 2 and 3, as well as 2 teams from Pot 4.

The top two teams in each group qualified for the World Cup Finals, with the two third-placed sides advancing to a playoff. All teams played home and away against each of the other four teams in the group.

Group A

Tulio Endō
K. Nakamura

Magid Mohamed
Al-Bloushi

Emerton
Kennedy

Tamada
Tulio

Soliev

Kewell

Carney

Group B

An Chol-Hyok

Al-Fraidi

Park Ji-sung
Kwak Tae-hwi

Nekounam

Park Chu-young

Mun In-Guk

Al-Muwallad

Juma
Hazazi Matar

Ki Sung-yueng

Goalscorers

• Tim Cahill

• Javad Nekounam

• Lee Keun-ho

• Park Ji-sung

• Farhod Tadjiyev

• Brett Emerton

• Joshua Kennedy

• Mahmood Abdulrahman

• Masoud Shojaei

• Shunsuke Nakamura

• Keiji Tamada

• Marcus Tulio Tanaka

• Mun In-Guk

• Naif Hazazi

• Abdoh Otaif

• Ki Sung-yueng

• Park Chu-young

• Mark Bresciano

• David Carney

• Scott Chipperfield

• Harry Kewell

• Mile Sterjovski

• Faouzi Mubarak Aaish

• Abdulla Baba Fatadi

• Salman Isa

• Karim Bagheri

• Ali Karimi

• Mehdi Mahdavikia

• Yasuhito Endō

• Kengo Nakamura

• Shinji Okazaki

• Tatsuya Tanaka

• An Chol-Hyok

• Choe Kum-Chol

• Hong Yong-Jo

• Jong Tae-Se

• Pak Nam-Chol

• Ali Afif

• Talal Al-Bloushi

• Magid Mohamed

• Majdi Siddiq

• Sebastián Soria

• Ahmed Al-Fraidi

• Saad Al-Harthi

• Osama Al-Muwallad

• Kim Chi-woo

• Kwak Tae-hwi

• Ismail Al Hammadi

• Mohammed Al Shehhi

• Abdulrahim Jumaa

• Subait Khater

• Ismail Matar

• Bashir Saeed

• Maksim Shatskikh

• Anvarjon Soliev

• Marcus Tulio Tanaka (against Bahrain)

• Ahmed Faris Al-Binali (against Japan)

• Fares Juma (against Saudi Arabia)

Notes

Several Iranian players started their away match against South Korea wearing green armbands or wristbands, a symbol of protest at the outcome of the Iranian presidential election. Most removed them at half-time. The newspaper Iran reported that Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hosein Kaebi, and Vahid Hashemian had received life bans from the Iranian FA for the gesture. However, the Iranian FA denied this claim in a response to FIFA's inquiry saying that "the comments in foreign media are nothing but lies and a mischievous act." The Iran national team head coach Afshin Ghotbi also confirmed that it was a rumour and Iranian FA "has not taken any official stand on this issue."

References

References

1. "FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) 2010, football - table and standings".
2. (25 June 2009). "Iran denies punishing players for wearing green wristbands". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
3. Bell, Jack. (26 June 2009). "Iran Did Not Suspend Players, Coach Says". [[The New York Times]].