Iran, which aims for a third consecutive appearance in the FIFA World Cup, pooled in Group C of the second round of qualifiers alongside Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong and Cambodia.
The draw was conducted on Wednesday in Malaysia by FIFA Director of Competitions Christian Unger and Australian legend Tim Cahill.
In this stage, 40 teams are divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The eight group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals and the final round of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 where they will be divided into two groups of six. The two top teams of each group bring home the quota for FIFA World Cup while third teams will compete for a playoff match against a yet-to-be-determined team from another continent.
The second round of qualifications will start on September 5, 2019, and will wrap up on June 9, 2020.
The next best 24 teams from the second round of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining 12 slots in the 24-team AFC Asian Cup China 2023.
MAH/4668889
Your Comment