Kuala Lumpur: Twelve nations will learn their opponents for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Asian Qualifiers Final Round when the official draw is held at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur at 1630hrs (Malaysia time) on Tuesday.
Eight AFC Member Associations have qualified for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Asian Qualifiers Final Round by virtue of finishing as group winners from Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 with another four also qualifying as the four best second-placed teams.
They will be drawn into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away under the round-robin format.
The winner and runner-up of each group (four teams in total) will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia finals while the third-placed teams of each group (two teams in total) will advance to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Asian Play-off Round.
The winner of the Asian Play-off Round (one team in total) will take on the side that finishes fourth in the fifth round of the CONCACAF qualifiers in a two-legged inter-confederation playoff.
The 12 nations, seeded based on the latest FIFA rankings which were released on April 7, will be drawn from six country pots as follows:
Pot 1: Iran (42nd), Australia (50th)
Pot 2: Korea Republic (56th), Japan (57th)
Pot 3: Saudi Arabia (60th), Uzbekistan (66th)
Pot 4: United Arab Emirates (68th), China PR (81st)
Pot 5: Qatar (83rd), Iraq (105th)
Pot 6: Syria (110th), Thailand (119th)
SCHEDULE & DRAW SYSTEM
Matchday One
September 01, 2016 Thursday Iran vs. 5th seed (Iraq or Qatar) – H
Matchday Two
September 06, 2016 Tuesday 4th seed (UAE or China) vs. Iran – A
Matchday Three
October 06, 2016 Thursday 3rd seed (KSA or Uzbekistan) vs. Iran – A
Matchday Four
October 11, 2016 Tuesday Iran vs. 2nd seed (Japan or South Korea) – H
Matchday Five
November 15, 2016 Tuesday 6th seed (Thailand or Syria) vs. Iran – A
Matchday Six
March 23, 2017 Thursday 5th seed (Iraq or Qatar) vs. Iran – A
Matchday Seven
March 28, 2017 Tuesday Iran vs 4th seed (UAE or China) – H
Matchday Eight
June 13, 2017 Tuesday Iran vs. 3rd seed (KSA or Uzbekistan) – H
Matchday Nine
August 31, 2017 Thursday 2nd seed (Japan or South Korea) vs. Iran – A
Matchday Ten
September 5th, 2017 Iran vs. 6th seed (Thailand or Syria) – H