If Aug FIFA ranking is used instead of round 2 results to divide the pots, it will be as follows. (red = higher pot / blue = lower pot than using round 2 results) POT 1 - JOR, PRK, KGZ, OMA, PLE, TKM POT 2 - BHR, PHI, VIE, (KUW), TJK, HKG POT 3 - LIB, AFG, IND, MYA, SIN, YEM POT 4 - MAS, GUM, MDV/LAO, CAM, BAN/BHU, TLS/TPE Expected ranking in Aug 2016: http://www.football-rankings.info/2016/07/fifa-ranking-august-2016-preview.html
First, because it's not a FIFA competition. Second, because the draw held previously for the 2019 qualification tournament did not. J
Not sure if it will be based on performance in qualifying (this format is new with 12 teams foregoing the stand alone qualifying tournament by virtue of their standings in the combined qualification) that would be a departure from precedence which had the nations ranked based on performance in previous Asian Cup. Pot 1 would look very different with Bahrain and Kuwait joining the the four teams that look assured of a Pot 1 seeding (Palestine, Jordan, DPRK, Oman). If Kuwait's suspension isn't lifted- Lebanon would take their place.
East-Timor's "home" match is played in Taiwan and return leg same place on Oct 11 http://www.the-afc.com/afcasfeeds?view=all&id=185&type=Stage#ui-tabs-1
No news is out to the member associations yet. It would be probably in January according to a source in AFF.
I think that it's important for the federations to know the date. Especially if the draw will be based on fifa rankings
If FIFA doesn't lift the ban of Kuwait FA before the draw of 3rd round, will there be any lucky loser from the play-off round?
All we know about the draw is that it's going to take place after the playoff matches today. Whether that means next week, next month, or next year.... no one is quite sure. Kuwait's participation is a mystery. If the suspension isn't lifted (and it looks like we are at an impasse at the moment) I would expect a lucky loser to be invited back into the fold because the rules and regulations state that 24 teams will take part and that the AFC will decide on replacing a member association that drops out. In any case, they can do the draw and then wait until the last moment to see if Kuwait can somehow extract itself from this situation. As it stands: Pot 1: Jordan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Philippines, Oman* Pot 2: Bahrain*, DPR Korea, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Yemen, India Pot 3: Lebanon, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Singapore*, Malaysia* Pot 4: Kuwait?, Guam, Bhutan, Cambodia, Maldives* or Laos, Chinese Taipei* or Timor Leste If Bahrain wins or draws its friendly vs. Oman they will replace them in Pot 1. India and Yemen move up despite not playing any games (much to Lebanon's chagrin) Malaysia will most likely end up in Pot 4 Singapore could join them if Chinese Taipei beats Timor Leste today DPR Korea's loss to Vietnam was very damaging as they dropped out of Pot 1.
You still seem to be labouring under the impression that the AFC will use FIFA ranks for its tournament when: a) It didn't in the only actual draw for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup so far, and b) They never have for any other AFC Asian Cup. What suggests to you that the FIFA rankings are even vaguely relevant? Some official notice? J
Unlikely. While it would be "neater" it isn't a problem to have one fewer entrants (ie 23 into 12 - just have one group of three, but still have two from each group qualify). The problem was always going to be if UAE missed out in the earlier phase - having one fewer available spots (ie 24 into 11) would be far trickier and if Kuwait were still out (23 into 11) would probably have seen us get the "excluding results against 4th place" spreadsheets out. J
Final list of 24 teams for Asian Cup third round Qualification. Afghanistan (E4) Bahrain (H4) Guam (D4) Hong Kong (C3) Jordan (B2) Kuwait (G3)[nb 1] Kyrgyzstan (B3) Lebanon (G2) Myanmar (G4) North Korea (H2) Oman (D2) Palestine (A3) Philippines (H3) Singapore (E3) Turkmenistan (D3) Vietnam (F3) From play-off round (8 teams) Bhutan (C5) Cambodia (E5) Chinese Taipei (F4) India (D5) Malaysia (A4) Maldives (C4) Tajikistan (B4) Yemen (H5)
Chinese Taipei 2:1 East Timor (4:2 agg). Chinese Taipei complained about East Timor's dirty play which left 3 of their players injured.
You are right. It is merely a hunch that is only backed up by things like this article about India not playing friendlies to boost their own FIFA ranking: http://thefield.scroll.in/818648/fo...-playing-and-not-losing-can-be-smart-strategy That said, the AFC did use the March 2014 FIFA rankings for the 2015 Asian Cup Finals. For qualifying it was based on performance at the 2011 edition- but that doesn't seem to make all that much sense given the new format they're using. Who was a better finisher in 2015 qualifying? Philippines or Lebanon? In my opinion, too many teams were shut out of qualifying to implement this model again.
For Afghanistan, it is best to have the draw in December. We had a win over Cambodia last November and our wins in the SAFF have their full weight by end of this year. If we get a good result against Tajikistan this November as well, we might jump enough to reach Pot 2.
Perhaps FIFA rankings won't be used.... In that case we'd have Pots that look like this: #AC2019 Pots based on #WCQ performance:Pot1:🇰🇵 🇯🇴 🇱🇧 🇴🇲 🇵🇸 🇰🇬 Pot2:🇭🇰 🇹🇲 🇸🇬 🇻🇳 🇰🇼 🇵🇭 Pot3:🇬🇺 🇲🇲 🇧🇭 🇦🇫 🇰🇭 🇾🇪Pot4:🇹🇯 🇲🇾 🇮🇳 🇲🇻 🇧🇹 🇹🇼— Football Palestine (@FutbolPalestine) October 17, 2016