The 42 AFC member associations were eligible to enter the qualification after Indonesia plus the top three teams of the previous tournament (Japan, North Korea and China) automatically qualified for the final tournament and Sri Lanka was barred from participating in international competitions due to FIFA suspension after the draw.

The final host Indonesia initially decided to also participate in the qualifying competition but withdrew after the draw.

18 teams including Bahrain, Bhutan, Iraq and United Arab Emirates who withdrew after the draw plus Laos, Pakistan and Syria who did participate in the previous edition, did not enter to the qualification and were listed below.

[5] 29 teams including Bahrain, Bhutan, Iraq plus United Arab Emirates who withdrew after the draw and Indonesia who automatically qualified as hosts but withdrew from participation after the draw, were seeded into four pots based on the their performance at the qualification and the final tournament of the previous edition.

Bahrain, Bhutan, Indonesia, Iraq, Turkmenistan and United Arab Emirates who did not participate in the previous edition, were unranked.