FIRST ROUND
Forty nations entered Asia's qualifying competition for the 2½ berths available. The draw put them into ten groups of four in the first round. The group winners would move on to the second round, and everyone else would be done. Several of the groups had clear favourites, but others had more in store. A good fight in Group 4 amongst Bahrain, Kuwait, and Kyrgyzstan looked in the works, and Group 7's trio of Jordan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan was also eagerly anticipated. India, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen made Group 8 a formidable collection, and Thailand and Lebanon would have plenty to fight for in Group 5.

An early surprise

Before qualifying got under way, Myanmar pulled out. They were to have hosted one half of the Group 2 tournament, but withdrew citing competitive concerns. The decision was then made to play Group 2 as a single round robin tournament, whereas all the other groups were double round robin. In NOV 2000, Guam and Tajikistan travelled to Tabriz to try to dethrone France 1998 qualifiers Iran. They could not. Guam got bulldozed 19-0 by Iran, then a record for most goals scored in a World Cup qualifier. [The record was shattered by Australia's 31-0 win over American Samoa several months later.] Tajikistan beat Guam 16-0, but Iran took the finale 2-0 over Tajikistan to move through.

In FEB 2001, groups 4 and 10 were played. Saudi Arabia, tournament hosts, ran away with Group 10 without conceding a single goal. The first half of the Group 4 fixture list was played in Singapore, with Kuwait winning 2-1 over Bahrain but playing to a 1-1 draw with the hosts in their next match. As they headed to Kuwait City for the return half, the Kuwaiti side felt happy with themselves: their seven points had them one ahead of Bahrain as they prepared for three straight matches at home. The top two teams both defeated the cellar dwellers again, setting up an all or nothing finish on TUE 27 FEB 2001. Kuwait needed only a draw to move through but were shocked by the visitors, who ran out one-nil winners on a second half penalty by Mohamed HASSAN MOHAMED.

The next group to play was Group 3 in MAR 2001, another group that was never really in doubt. Qatar did trip up on their return home, drawing 0-0 with Malaysia, but they won their other five matches. Palestine, playing their first qualifiers as members of the Asian Football Confederation, were the group's pleasant surprise as they finished in second place, ahead of Malaysia on goal difference.

Two wild months

A frantic finish to the Asian first round was in store as six groups were contested in APR-MAY 2001. Just a month earlier, Iraq had been confirmed as hosts of the first half of Group 6 matches, the first time since 1979 that an international tournament would be contested in Baghdad. That advantage proved critical, as Iraq defeated both Macao and Nepal by eight goals at home. Though the showdowns with Kazakhstan each ended in 1-1 draws, Iraq's big wins helped them reach a superior goal difference and win the group.

Meanwhile in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Group 7 opened with a jolt to Jordan. Turkmenistan defeated them 2-0 in their opener, a blow from which the early favourites never recovered. Though Uzbekistan could not solve Jordan, drawing twice, they did defeat Turkmenistan in both meetings, which was enough to give them the group title. Group 1 saw Oman and Syria evenly matched: after five matches, each were on thirteen points. Their first meeting had been a cracking 3-3 draw in Aleppo, Syria, in which Oman equalised late in each half. On FRI 25 MAY 2001, they met in Muscat to decide it all. Taqi MUBARAK and Majdi SHAABAN struck for the home team, earning a 2-0 win and a place in the second round.

Groups 8 and 9 were the most suspenseful in the first round. The action was thrilling and the results were always in doubt, but another thing that increased the tension was that these groups were not played as centralised tournaments, meaning that the matches were spread out both geographically across the region and temporally across the two months. By the end of APR 2001, Indonesia had a three point lead over China PR and the Maldives, but the Chinese side had four matches remaining to Indonesia's three and the Maldives' one. China PR raced through the rest of their fixtures, winning each by at least two goals. They would join Saudi Arabia and Iran as the only teams to win their entire first round slate.

No group was more hotly contested than Group 8, which had one minnow, Brunei Darussalam, and three potential champions. The first meaningful match of the group was India's 1-0 win over the UAE, but Yemen were able to steal a point from their trip to India. When two more matches had been completed, both Yemen and the UAE had completed their India encounters, and both were split. The critical difference: The UAE got a win and a loss, for a total of three points. But Yemen got two draws for two points. Hence the UAE had the advantage heading into their last two matches against Yemen. At the first leg, homestanders Yemen surprised all by coming back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to win 2-1, eliminating India. As they went back to the UAE, Yemen had a two point advantage and needed a draw to move through, whilst the UAE responded to the loss by sacking coach Henri MICHEL. Under Abdullah SAQR, the UAE took a 2-1 halftime lead and never looked back, winning in the end 3-2. In all, seven Persian Gulf teams were amongst the Asian last ten.

Group 5 was effectively between Thailand and Lebanon. Lebanon hosted the first half but fell 2-1 in the all important Thailand match. Their return encounter in Bangkok on WED 30 MAY 2001 was the last match of the round, held on the opening day of the Confederations Cup over in Korea Rep and Japan. Though Vartan GHAZARIAN took the lead for Lebanon in the first half, two Thai goals in a four minute span in the second half proved too much. Lebanon managed to equalise but could not score the winner that they needed. With the 2-2 draw, Thailand rounded out the field of ten, and the second round draw was set for FRI 01 JUN 2001.

SECOND ROUND
The controversy started before a single ball was kicked. The day before the draw, it was announced that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would be the two top seeds in their respective groups, inciting the wrath of Iranian fans who asked where the UAE had been at France 1998. They had a point: Since 1998, the UAE had been placed ahead of Iran in the world rankings only once. It would not have been so much of an issue had Iran been drawn against the UAE, but they had the misfortune of landing in Group A with the Saudi powerhouse, along with Iraq, Bahrain, and Thailand. The group winners would qualify, and the number two teams would play off in the third round. Most observers figured China PR would have an easy time in Group B, whilst Saudi Arabia and Iran would fight to the death.

Most observers were right.

China PR extended their winning streak in qualifiers to eight matches as they defeated the UAE and Oman in their first two matches. Qatar were their only challenge in the first half of the tournament, forcing a 1-1 draw in Doha. At the halfway mark, China PR stood four points ahead of Uzbekistan, who in turn were one clear of Qatar and two in front of the UAE.

Group A was more complex. Saudi Arabia, having earned just one point in their first two matches, relieved coach Slobodan SANTRAC of his duties after losing 2-0 at Iran. Under Nasser AL-JOHAR, the Saudis took two wins and jumped to within a point of leaders Iran. Bahrain, in third, were within a point of the Saudis, helped by away draws with each of the top two teams.

Anybody want my job?

Football associations are impatient and fickle anywhere in the world, but perhaps none more so than in Asia. Over the course of the second round, six coaches, starting with Santrac, had to be replaced. Saqr resigned from the UAE's bench, and Adnan HAMD was shown the door in Iraq. At the midway point, Dzemal HADZIABDIC stepped down from Qatar's side, whilst Oman dismissed Bernd STANGE. Ahead of their last match at home against China PR, Uzbekistan's Vladimir SALKOV quit his post.

The four coaches who remained throughout the round were Iran's Miroslav BLAZEVIC, Thailand's Peter WITHE, Bahrain's Wolfgang SIDKA, and China PR's Bora MILUTINOVIC. Of these, Milutinovic was probably the only one who never felt the urge to start sending résumés out. Going into a home match with last placed Oman, China PR needed a single point in their last three matches to take the group. YU Genwei's first half goal highlighted a low key match in which the home side did what they needed to do. As the whistle blew on the 1-0 result, Earth's most populous nation celebrated as never before. Team captain FAN Zhiyi was introspective afterward, saying, "I have not wasted my efforts through all these years.... When I am all alone overseas, this is all that I am waiting for."

Blazevic was happy with his own side's performance as the end of the round approached. A 2-1 win over Iraq on FRI 12 OCT 2001 left Iran's World Cup destiny in their own hands: a win against Bahrain the following week would be enough to go to their second straight tournament. Meanwhile, the UAE had gotten a key win against Qatar to put them in second place in Group B. Uzbekistan could have regained the advantage in the playoff race, but they blew a 2-0 halftime lead at Oman only eight minutes after the restart. Yacoub JUMA's second goal put the visitors ahead, and Oman added a fourth to take a stunning 4-2 win. This was the result that led Salkov to step down.

Flaming finish

In the ninth week of qualifiers, Thailand hosted Bahrain in a consolation matchup of eliminated sides. The SAT 13 OCT 2001 match was off the radar screen of most fans, until the breakout of a fire in Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. Bahrain were leading 1-0 after 25 minutes when a fire that started in the electrical control room spread into the main part of the stadium. The match was abandoned, and the stadium was eventually evacuated. No injuries were reported, and the encounter was replayed to a 1-1 draw three days later. This would not have affected the tournament except that the last two Group A matches, Bahrain-Iran and Saudi Arabia-Thailand, were pushed back two days to SUN 21 OCT 2001.

Two days prior to that, Uzbekistan hosted China PR in Tashkent, and the UAE entertained Oman in Abu Dhabi. Uzbekistan needed to win and hope for a UAE loss to get into the third round, and for a time they had hope. At halftime, the word was that Oman had a one goal lead. In fact, they held a 2-0 advantage but conceded a goal just before the break. Mohammed OMAR's strike with thirty minutes remaining drew the UAE level, and that was how the match would end. Though Nikolai SHIRSOV handed China PR its first and only loss of the entire qualifying campaign with a goal in the dying seconds, it was too little too late. Uzbekistan had been done in by the Oman match.

The only question remaining was that of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran's one point lead meant that Saudi Arabia would have to come up with a better result against Thailand than Iran could against Bahrain. As with the Group B finales, these matches kicked off simultaneously at 17:30 UTC on SUN 21 OCT 2001. Iran conceded a goal to Abdulla RAHMAN after only seven minutes and could not recover. By the 73rd minute, Iran were 2-0 down and were losing their cool. Sirous DINMOHAMMADI was dismissed at that point, and Ali Reza NIKBAHKT was sent off eight minutes later. The nine-man Persian side fell 3-1, and Saudi Arabia swiped the automatic berth with a 4-1 win in their match.

THIRD ROUND
The disconsolate Iranians then had to pick themselves up and contest their third round playoff against the UAE, hampered by the absence of three key players. DinMohammadi and Nikbahkt would serve their red card suspensions in the opening leg, and captain Ali DAEI would also sit out due to receiving his second booking of the round. Tini RUIJS, who replaced Saqr to lead the UAE into the third round, was happy to see them gone and thought his side had a good chance to reach the playoff against the Republic of Ireland. Blazevic, meanwhile, vowed that he would hang himself over the goalpost at Tehran's Azadi Stadium if Iran failed to eliminate the UAE.

UAE goalkeeper Mutaz ABDULLA faced a constant onslaught but to his credit allowed only one goal, by Karim BAGHERI just before halftime. Iran took the home leg 1-0, and in the return leg, the return of their stars proved the difference. Daei blasted an eighth minute free kick past Abdulla, but immediately thereafter, Pejman JAMSHIDI was shown a second yellow card and was off. For about forty five minutes, the UAE had a man advantage but could not do a thing with it. Early in the second half, Jaleel ABDULRAHMAN received his second yellow, and it was a ten-on-ten match. Iran tacked on two more goals and left the UAE behind them. Headlines read "Iran save Blazevic's neck".

UEFA/AFC PLAYOFF
Iran's 4-0 aggregate win sent them to Dublin for the opening leg of their playoff against Rep Ireland, who finished tied atop UEFA Group 2 and were shut out of the automatic berth on goal difference. Iran had been in this position before, surprising the world by heisting the 32nd and final France 1998 berth from Australia. In 1997, Iran lost in overtime to Japan in the Asian third place match, which put Japan into their first World Cup and forced Iran to go the long way. The opener in Tehran was a 1-1 draw, and Australia expected to win the series on the benefit of their away goal. But in the last 15 minutes of the back leg in Melbourne, Bagheri and then Khodadad AZIZI blasted home goals that silenced the home fans and left the match even 2-2. The away goals rule was then turned on its head: Iran, not Australia, were victorious.

The first half of the opener in Dublin was marked by an almost permanent attack by the Irish, though they had much difficulty capitalising. Finally, a foul by Rahman REZAEI gave Rep Ireland a penalty, which Ian HARTE put into the net late in the first half. Robbie KEANE added a second on 51 minutes to make the final score 2-0. In Tehran, Irish goalkeeper Shay GIVEN again turned in a fine performance, denying Iran for most of the match. The pressure was relentless, but still Given gave up nothing until the final minutes, Yahya GOLMOHAMMADI's headed goal the only thing saving Iran from a series shutout. Iran's long and difficult path did not lead to East Asia.