Draw for Round 2 of Asian qualifiers for Qatar 2022 completed
Qualifiers drawn in Kuala Lumpur, was streamed live
Asia's top 40 teams learn their fate
The eyes of the Asian footballing turned to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday as the draw for the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ took place at the AFC House in Malaysia's capital.
Round 2 draw results
Group A: China PR, Syria, Philippines, Maldives, Guam
Group B: Australia, Jordan, Chinese Taipei, Kuwait, Nepal
Group C: IR Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Cambodia
Group D: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Yemen, Singapore
Group E: Bangladesh, Oman, India, Afghanistan, Qatar
Group F: Japan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Mongolia
Group G: United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
Group H: Korea Republic, Lebanon, Korea DPR, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka
How did the draw work?
The 34 top-ranked sides in Asia - according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for June - are joined in Round 2 by the six winners of the Round 1 ties (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guam, Malaysia, Mongolia and Sri Lanka).
The competing nations were drawn into eight groups of five teams, with a side from each of the pots (also determined by June's FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking) making up the five-team pools.
When will the games be played?
The matches in Round 2 will be played from 5 September 2019 through 9 June 2020.
The group winners and four best runners-up (12 teams in total) will advance to the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying, where 4.5 spots to Qatar 2022 are on offer.
Those 12 sides will also automatically qualify for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, with the next best 24 teams competing in a separate qualifying competition to determine the remaining sides that will take part at China 2023.