Hosts Australia named among top seeds for 2015 Asian Cup

SYDNEY - The seedings and draw mechanism for the Final Draw of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 have been announced by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Football Federation Australia (FFA) said on Tuesday.

Australia's Socceroos have been named among top seeds for the 2015 tournament, FFA said.

"There will be four country pots with hosts Australia occupying the A1 position of Pot 1 and the rest of the countries getting their respective positions based on the latest FIFA Rankings released this week," FFA said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The first four top-rank countries will be slotted in Pot 1 and the rest will be slotted in Pot 2, 3 and 4 respectively."

The seedings are:

Pot 1 (teams ranked 1-4): Australia, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan

Pot 2 (teams ranked 5-8): Republic of Korea, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia

Pot 3 (teams ranked 9-12): Oman, China, Qatar, Iraq

Pot 4 (teams ranked 13-16): Bahrain, Kuwait, DPR Korea and Challenge Cup 2014 winners.

The March 26 draw at the Sydney Opera House will feature 15 confirmed teams, with the winner of the AFC Challenge Cup 2014, which takes place in the Maldives in May, to take the final position.

FFA, the governing body of Australian football said defending champions Japan, Asian Cup 2015 hosts Australia, and Korea Republic had been given direct entry to the finals by finishing first, second and third respectively at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.