The AFC first round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, which also served as the first round of 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, was played from 6 to 11 June 2019.

The six losers were eligible to enter the 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup, which was subsequently cancelled.

Timor-Leste were barred from participating in the qualification tournament after being found to have fielded a total of twelve ineligible players in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches, among other competitions.

[3] The draw for the first round was held on 17 April 2019 at 11:00 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[4] The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of April 2019 (shown in parentheses below).