DILI (12 Feb 2015) – Timor Leste to play Mongolia, Cambodia take on Macau while Brunei will challenge Chinese Taipei – those were among the results of the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 draw for the 12 lowest ranked Asian teams for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup that was held this week.
The other teams involved in the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 are India, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Nepal, Macau, Pakistan and Bhutan.
The dozen hopefuls will meet on 12 and March as they attempt to progress to the next stage of qualifying, while the games will also see the AFC becoming the first governing body to begin qualifying for FIFA’s global extravaganza in Russia.
The six winners will advance to Round 2 where the 34 highest ranked teams await. The 40 nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams and compete according to a double round robin format.
The Round 2 qualification matches will be held from 11 June 2015 to 29 March 2016.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup finals.
Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 Draw
India v Nepal
Yemen v Pakistan
Timor-Leste v Mongolia
Cambodia v Macau
Chinese Taipei v Brunei DS
Sri Lanka v Bhutan
