China,South Korea to meet in 2018 Cup Asian qualifiers

Windsor John, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) General Secretary, displays a draw for China during the official draw for the final round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup football Asian qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 12, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

KUALA LUMPUR -- Following is the draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Final Round held here on Tuesday (latest FIFA rankings in brackets):

Group A: Iran (42nd), South Korea (56th), Uzbekistan (66th), China (81st), Qatar (83rd), Syria (110th)

Group B: Australia (50th), Japan (57th), Saudi Arabia (60th), United Arab Emirates (68th), Iraq (105th), Thailand (119th)

According to the AFC, the six teams of each group will 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 for a spot at the global finals.