2022 World Cup AFC qualifiers in numbers
The Asian Football Confederation 2022 World Cup qualifiers are back underway following a lengthy suspension due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Following 110 days of stoppage, the AFC World Cup 2022 qualifiers return on Thursday as the covid-19 pandemic continues to affect sports-related activities globally.
2020 has only witnessed one game of the AFC World Cup qualifiers to date, when Qatar claimed a 5-0 victory over Bangladesh to go top of Group E on 16 points, the most achieved by any of the 40 participating teams with The Maroons racking up five wins and a draw.
The qualifiers in numbers
The games played in the second round of the qualifiers have seen 286 goals scored since kickoff in September 2019, with Iran and Kuwait top scoring with 17 goals followed by Qatar and Australia (16).
Iran managed the most goals in a single game when they thrashed Cambodia 14-0 at Azadi Stadium. Karim Ansarifard scored four and Sardar Azmoun netted a hat-trick.
Al Somah top of scoring charts
Syrian goal machine Omar Al Somah is currently leading the goal-scoring charts having scored seven goals so far. Al Somah netted twice against both the Philippines and Maldives and bagged a hat-trick against Guam.
Twelve teams are set to qualify for round three of the qualifiers, where the eight group winners and the four best second-placed teams will be competing for the four automatic berths at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Should host nation Qatar emerge as one of the 12 top teams, the fifth-best second-placed side will qualify instead for the third round of the qualifiers.