FIFA has allowed Myanmar back into the qualifiers for the 2018 Men’s World Cup following a successful appeal by the Myanmar Football Federation. The southeast Asian nation had been banned as a result of crowd violence at the AFC preliminary series 6 match against Oman in Yangon on THU 28 JUL 2011. Myanmar may now participate in the Russia 2018 qualifiers, but on the condition that all home matches are played in neutral territory in a different nation.

FIFA has banned Myanmar from the qualifiers for the 2018 Men’s World Cup due to the crowd violence at the match against Oman on THU 28 JUL 2011. Spectators in Yangon began throwing objects onto the pitch late in the first half after Oman took a 2-0 lead, eventually forcing the referee to abandon the match. Oman were later deemed the winners of AFC preliminary series 6. The result eliminated Myanmar from the Brazil 2014 qualifiers, and the team now cannot compete in the qualifiers for Russia 2018.

A quick summary of action around the AFC second preliminary round on THU 28 JUL 2011. Series aggregate results are shown below. more...

A quick summary of action around the AFC first preliminary round on SUN 03 JUL 2011. Series aggregate results are shown below. more...

The AFC qualifiers for the 2014 Men’s World Cup will proceed largely the same as for the previous tournament. 38 teams compete in the preliminary rounds, of which 16 are unseeded and must play a semifinal series first. The 15 winners of the final serieses then proceed to the first group phase with five teams that received byes. These teams compete in five groups of four; the top two advance to the second group phase and form two groups of five. The top two in each group qualify, and the third placed teams face one another in the playoffs. The winner then meets an opponent from another confederation. more...