title: Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers
text: # Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers
  
  The Asian Football Confederation's Pre-Olympic Tournament was held from 20 May 1995 to 27 March 1996. Twenty-five teams entered the qualification for the three allocated spots for the 1996 Summer Olympics Football tournament in Atlanta.
  
  The qualification saw Korea Republic, Japan and Saudi Arabia winning their final round groups and qualifying to the Olympics.
  
  ## Format
  
  Asian berths for the final is 3.
  
  ### First round
  
      25 teams were grouped into 8 groups, where each group would consist of home and away round-robin tournament. The winners of each group would qualify to the second round. One group was consist of 4 teams, and the other 7 groups were each consist of 3 teams.
  
  ### Second round
  
      8 teams were grouped into 2 groups of 4 teams each, where each group would consist of round-robin tournament. The top two of each group would qualify to the third round.
  
  ### Third round
  
      This stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. 2 semi-finals were played, Group A winner VS Group B runner-up and Group B winner VS Group A runner-up. This was followed by the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final. The top three teams would qualify to the finals.
  
  ## First round
  
  The first round was played in eight groups held from 20 May 1995 to 29 October 1995. The winner of each group will be promoted to the final round.
  
  ### Group 1
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | China | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 12 |
  | 2 | Singapore | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 4 |
  | 3 | Malaysia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 1 |
  
  ### Group 2
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Japan | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | +15 | 12 |
  | 2 | Thailand | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 6 |
  | 3 | Chinese Taipei | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 22 | -21 | 0 |
  
  ### Group 3
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | South Korea | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 12 |
  | 2 | Indonesia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 |
  | 3 | Hong Kong | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 17 | -16 | 0 |
  
  ### Group 4
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Oman | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 |
  | 2 | India | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 6 |
  | 3 | Pakistan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 13 | -11 | 0 |
  
  ### Group 5
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Kazakhstan | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 5 | +14 | 16 |
  | 2 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 10 |
  | 3 | Tajikistan | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 4 |
  | 4 | Kyrgyzstan | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 22 | -13 | 4 |
  
  ### Group 6
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Saudi Arabia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 10 |
  | 2 | Kuwait | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
  | 3 | Syria | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 1 |
  
  ### Group 7
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | United Arab Emirates | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 |
  | 2 | Iran | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 7 |
  | 3 | Turkmenistan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 1 |
  
  ### Group 8
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Iraq | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 8 |
  | 2 | Qatar | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 7 |
  | 3 | Jordan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 1 |
  
  ## Second round
  
  The second round and the third round of the Olympic Qualifiers (U-23 teams) are being played in Malaysia from 16 to 27 March 1996. Three of the four semifinal entrants will qualify for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA.
  
  ### Group A
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 |
  | 2 | Iraq | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 |
  | 3 | Oman | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
  | 4 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 0 |
  
  ### Group B
  
  | Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 |
  | 2 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 |
  | 3 | China | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 |
  | 4 | Kazakhstan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | -7 | 0 |
  
  ## Third round
  
  ### Final
  
  South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia qualified to the 1996 Summer Olympics Football tournament in Atlanta.
  
  