2018 FIFA World Cup Russia & 2019 AFC Asian Cup UAE Joint Qualification - Official Draw. Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5:00 PM MST. Time Zone: Tuesday, April 14, 2015 5:00 PM Malaysia Time Tuesday, April 14, 2015 6:00 PM Korea Time Tuesday, April 14, 2015 7:00 PM Australia Time Monday, April 13, 2015 11:00 PM Hawaii Time Tuesday, April 14, 2015 2:00 AM Pacific Time Tuesday, April 14, 2015 5:00 AM Eastern Time Tuesday, April 14, 2015 10:00 AM UK Time(GMT) http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html You can watch the live draw here: Note: Please keep the thread clean and the conversations civil, for any further arguments please take it to PM, and remember to use the "Ignore" function thanks.
Only group winner will guarantee a spot in the third(final) round. Runner-up does not get an automatic spot, only top 4 goes into third round. I expect no teams in pot 3,4,5 to make it to third round. Which will Make the final round the toughest qualification ever in asia.
Some of those minnow pot 4/5 countries are in for a bad time with potential 2nd place teams probably duking it out for goal difference...
I don't think so. Because I feel no team in pot three will challenge any teams in pot 2 for runner up finish. Nevermind teams in pot four and five. Teams in pot three aren't good enough to hang around for eight games. They may hang in there for couple of games. But when dust settles, I believe there won't any Cinderella teams making it to the third round. I don't feel teams like Norks, or Palestine who both made the asian cup 2015 tourney by winning afc challenge cup to have any chance. There's going to be clear group winners and runner-ups in the second round. Winner from pot one and runner-up from pot two. Edit: I give one team pot three a chance. Thailand.
You can simulate the draw here: http://ultra.zone/2018-FIFA-World-Cup-qualification-AFC-Second-Round Here's mine: But, I get this feeling that we may get Maldives or Turkmenistan again.
Group A: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Timor Leste, Malaysia Group B: Australia, Jordan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh Group C: China, Qatar, Maldives, Bhutan, Hong Kong Group D: Iran, Oman, India, Turkmenistan, Guam Group E: Japan, Syria, Afghanistan, Singapore, Cambodia Group F: Iraq, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei Group G: Korea Republic, Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar, Laos Group H: Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Philippines, DPR Korea, Yemen
Man, I was really hoping that we'd be in Group F but oh well bring on Lebanon and Kuwait again. Although, Iran, Japan and Australia have a relatively easy group, I am just glad that we did not end up with the Norks again.
Funny thing is that this is the second consecutive FIFA WCQ's where we meet Lebanon and Kuwait again. We've faced Lebanon at the '94, '06, '14 WCQ's, while both Lebanon and Kuwait in '06 and '14 WCQ's.
2018 FIFA World Cup Russia & 2019 AFC Asian Cup UAE Joint Qualification [Second Round]: (Away) June 16, 2015: Myanmar vs Korea @ Yangon, Myanmar. (Home) September 3, 2015: Korea vs Laos @ TBA, South Korea. (Away) September 8, 2015: Lebanon vs Korea @ Beirut, Lebanon. (Away) October 8, 2015: Kuwait vs Korea @ Kuwait City, Kuwait. (Home) November 12, 2015: Korea vs Myanmar @ TBA, South Korea. (Away) November 17, 2015: Laos vs Korea @ Vientiane, Laos. (Home) March 24, 2016: Korea vs Lebanon @ TBA, South Korea. (Home) March 29, 2016: Korea vs Kuwait @ TBA, South Korea.
Relatively speaking yeah, however that all depends on how well we play because Laos and Myanmar is a piece of cake, but Lebanon and Kuwait can still pull off an upset. I mean even Theo Bücker was frustrated by the way we played against them and especially with CKH's tactics in the return leg Away game where we drew them 1-1, all thanks to Kim Chi-Woo for saving our ass with his freekick equalizer in the dying minutes.