VIETNAM RANKED HIGHEST ASEAN TEAM FOR ASIAN CUP 2011 QUALIFIERS

Qualifications for the tournament which will be hosted by Qatar will see Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic getting automatic byes following their first, second and third finishing at the last meet and they will only join the qualifiers in the third round.

The next highest ranked Asean team is Thailand at 10th, Indonesia on 11th and Malaysia at 15th to be followed by Singapore at 21st.

SEEDINGS FOR ASIAN CUP 2011 QUALIFIERS

1. Iraq; 2. Saudi Arabia; 3. Korea Rep.; 4. Japan; 5. Australia; 6. IR Iran; 7. Uzbekistan; 8. Vietnam; 9. China PR; 10. Thailand; 11. Indonesia; 12. UAE; 13. Bahrain; 14. Oman; 15. Malaysia; 16. Jordan; 17. Syria; 18. Hong Kong; 19. Yemen; 20. Kuwait; 21. Singapore; 22. India; 23. Lebanon; 24. Maldives

In the meantime, Myanmar have been ranked fourth for the AFC Challenge Cup 2008 qualifiers while Brunei are 12th, Cambodia 14th, the Philippines 15th and Laos 20th.

The seeding for the qualification format of AFC Challenge Cup 2008 are based on the results from the AFC Challenge Cup 2006.

The added incentive for participating team is that the winners of AFC Challenge Cup competitions 2008 and 2010 will qualify to the AFC Asian Cup 2011 finals in Doha, Qatar.

The hosting job for the AFC Challenge Cup 2008 has yet to be announced although India have emerged as the front-runner at this point.

SEEDINGS FOR AFC CHALLENGE CUP 2008 QUALIFIERS

1. DPR Korea; 2. Turkmenistan; 3. India; 4. Myanmar; 5. Tajikistan; 6. Sri Lanka; 7. Nepal; 8. Kyrgyzstan; 9. Palestine; 10. Chinese Taipei; 11. Bangladesh; 12. Brunei; 13. Pakistan; 14. Cambodia; 15. Philippines; 16. Afghanistan; 17. Bhutan; 18. Macau; 19. Guam; 20. Laos