Bangladesh shouldn't be in the bottom 14. They did grab a point against Tajikistan. That would solve the Afghanistan/Cambodia tie as both would be in the bottom 14.
Aren't ties decided by goals - not points (unless you are Conmebol). After all, you can get 2 points (2 draws) and win, but get 3 points (1 win - 1 loss) and lose. J
AFC indeed used goal difference over the two legs to sort the teams eliminated in the first round. It's their choice obviously. It seems more logical (to me at least) to sort them using points first.
No you don't. Extending the question to your criticism of the ranking of the 1st group stage. q1) Which is better - 1st place on 11pts or 2nd place on 12pts? q2) Which is better - 2nd place on 8pts or 3rd place on 9pts? q3) Why the difference? The new system is more consistent with the rules of qualification than the old one. J
Kuala Lumpur: AFC has announced the qualification format for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers on Wednesday. Forty-three teams have entered the fray to grab four automatic and an inter-continental playoff berths. In the first round, the 16 lowest ranked teams will be divided into eight groups for home-and-away matches on June 29 and July 3, 2011. Eight winners from the first round will join 22 higher ranked teams in the second round where the teams will be divided into 15 groups for home-and-away matches on July 23 and 28. The 15 winners from the second round will join top five direct entrants in the third round where they will be divided into five groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group will make it to Round 4. The third round will be played from September 2, 2011, to February 29, 2012. The 10 qualified teams in the fourth round will be divided into two groups of five teams each and top two teams from each group will gain automatic berths in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. If Japan make it to the fourth round, they will be placed on Position 5 in their group in order not to play on June 18, 2013, to felicitate their participation in the FIFA Confederations Cup to be held from June 16 to 30, 2013. Two third-placed teams will play in Round 5 to determine Asia’s representative in the inter-continental playoff. The fourth round will be played from June 3, 2012, to June 18, 2013, while the playoff between the third-placed teams will be played on September 6 and 10, 2013. The inter-continental playoff will be played on October 15 and November 19, 2013. The seeding for the draw, to be held on March 30, will be based on the rankings from 2010 FIFA World Cup and its Asian qualifiers. Teams ranked from 1-5 will participate in the qualifiers from Round 3, teams ranked 6-27 (22 teams) will participate from Round 2 and the teams ranked 28-43 (16) will play the first round. THE SEEDINGS 1. Japan, 2. Korea Republic, 3. Australia, 4. DPR Korea, 5. Bahrain, 6. Saudi Arabia, 7. Iran, 8. Qatar, 9. Uzbekistan, 10. UAE, 11. Syria, 12. Oman, 13. Jordan, 14. Iraq, 15. Singapore, 16. China, 17. Kuwait, 18. Thailand, 19. Turkmenistan, 20. Lebanon, 21. Yemen, 22. Tajikistan, 23. Hong Kong, 24. Indonesia, 25. Kyrgyzstan, 26. Maldives, 27. India, 28. Malaysia, 29. Afghanitsan, Cambodia, 31. Nepal, 32. Bangladesh, 33. Sri Lanka, Vietnam, 35. Mongolia, 36. Pakistan, 37. Palestine, 38. Timor Leste, 39. Macau, 40. Chinese Taipei, Myanmar, 42. Laos, Philippines. THE SCHEDULE Round 1: June 29 and July 3, 2011 Round 2: July 23 and July 28, 2011 Round 3: September 2, September 6, October 11, November 11, November 15, 2011 and February 29, 2012 Round 4: June 3, June 8, June 12, September 11, October 16, November 14, 2012, March 26, June 4, June 11, June 18, 2013 Round 5: September 6 and September 10, 2013 Round 6 (inter-continental playoff): October 15 and November 19, 2013
Depending on what you mean, either a) at the same time as the first round (if you mean the second round of knockouts) - Teams 6-20 vs Teams 21-27+8 R1 winners (probably) b) Brazil at the end of July (if you mean the first group stage of 20 teams that get past the knockouts). J
MANILA, Philippines -- Cambodia and Afghanistan loom as possible first-round opponents of the Philippines in the June qualifying games for the 2014 World Cup. After advancing to the AFC Challenge Cup main tournament on 2012, the Azkals are shifting their focus to the World Cup qualifying, which the country is joining for the first time since the 2002 tournament in South Korea. Although the Philippines’ next opponent would not be known until Wednesday, team manager Dan Palami said they have received inside information that the Azkals might be pitted against Cambodia or Afghanistan on June 29 and July 3. http://sports.inquirer.net/breaking...stan-in-1st-round-of-qualifying-for-World-Cup ???
That is mere speculation jonny. Dan doesn't even know the format for the draw much less the teams they will be playing.
Afghanistan should pull some surprises from there recent performances. I know Bhutan arent the best footballing nation around, however they seem to have a good spirit at the moment with the mix of foreign players. Before they always had tension between the 5-6 European players and the local boys. Should be interesting if they do end up with the Fillos... I think in 2008 Challenge Cup, it was 2-2 draw when they last played.
They've merely applied their own version of 'seeding', and paired top vs bottom, second top vs second bottom and so forth. And if there hadn't been two 29='s they would have said that one particular one '"looms"; Not the method AFC will actually use, as we'll find out shortly. They should have a 25% chance of being right - but I hope Philippines gets Mongolia again. 28 Malaysia 29= Afghanistan 29= Cambodia 31 Nepal 32 Bangladesh 33= Sri Lanka 33= Vietnam 35 Mongolia 36 Pakistan 37 Palestine 38 Timor-Leste 39 Macau 40= Chinese Taipei 40= Myanmar 42= Philippines 42= Laos
Kuala Lumpur: The four draws taking place in the AFC House on March 30 will be streamed live on the-afc.com. The live webcast will start at 1000 hours (GMT +8) with the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers draw while AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers draw will take place at 1200 hours. The 2012 London Olympics Asian qualifiers Round 2 draw will be held at 1500 hours while 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers Round 1 and Round 2 draws will take place at 1600 hours. Apart from the live webcast, simultaneous live updates will also be provided on the-afc.com. http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/fifa-world-cup/34067-live-webcast-of-draws
Round 2 draws? Does that mean that the participants of Round 1 will know who they will play in Round 2 if they win their initial home and away series?
only fair to get this out of the weay now, as 1/2 of the round 2 ties can be sorted today, and the other half, the Round 1 players will know who they will face if they win. If they delay the round 2 draw until after round 1, there's only a few weeks to get organised, rather than 3-4 months.
It would be bizarre if it wasn't. You could get Bahrain v Uzbekistan in the second round. There are only two possible options for the second round. 1) Draw 6-20 against 21-27+8 R1 winners or 2) (less likely) Draw 6-13 against 8 R1 winners and 14-20 against 21-27 Not seeding the first round would seem to undo the "benefits" of the change to the structure of the first two rounds. J
The draw: http://www.the-afc.com/draw/fwc/index.htm Round 1 1 Malaysia - Chinese Taipei 2 Bangladesh - Pakistan 3 Cambodia - Laos 4 Sri Lanka - Philippines 5 Afghanistan - Palestine 6 Vietnam - Macau 7 Nepal - Timor Leste 8 Mongolia - Myanmar Round 2 Thailand - Afghanistan/Palestine Lebanon - Bangladesh/Pakistan China PR - Cambodia/Laos Turkmenistan - Indonesia Kuwait - Sri Lanka/Philippines Oman - Mongolia/Myanmar Saudi Arabia - Hong Kong Iran - Maldives Syria - Tajikistan Qatar - Vietnam/Macau Iraq - Yemen Singapore - Malaysia/Chinese Taipei Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan United Arab Emirates - India Jordan - Nepal/Timor Leste
anyone know why Bhutan and Guam not play? Bhutan a few days ago played with Afghanistan, Guam is also active last time ... so ...
I guess it all depends on their opponents kicking up a fuss or not about safety. Palestine and Iraq have shown us that they can host games without issues, so why not. Iraq will play in the North anyway. Timor-Leste I don't think have ever played at home, so they will probably host in Indonesia. Afghanistan, although I'd like to see them play at home, I'm guessing they won't, I'm assuming somewhere like Dubai will be offered to them.
I dont think Dubai will offer. No Arab nation has ever offered help. Only Tajikistan and India are the only places there will play there 'home game' as they tend to always offer help.