In the late afternoon of July 1, the AFC unveiled the grand moment of the much-anticipated group draw for the 12-team tournament, which will take place in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur at 3:00 p.m. BST sharp.
It is worth noting that our soccer team will participate in the grouping ceremony as the fourth slot, the same slot as Iraq, so our team will avoid a direct confrontation with Iraq. While Japan, South Korea, Australia and Iraq hold steady in the top two slots, the other six participating teams include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Syria, Vietnam and Lebanon.
Here's the distribution of the Big 12 brackets:
First tranche: Japan, Iran
Second gear: Australia, Korea
Tranche 3: Saudi Arabia, UAE
Fourth tranche: Iraq, my country
Fifth tranche: Oman, Syria
Sixth tranche: Viet Nam, Lebanon
The 12-team tournament will kick off on Sept. 2, with the next match days being Sept. 7, Oct. 7, Oct. 12, Nov. 11 and Nov. 16, respectively. Six rounds of matches will be completed in three international windows during this year, with the remaining four rounds to be played on January 27, February 1, March 24 and March 29 next year. Due to the home-and-away system for the 12-team tournament, the international movement of teams has been affected by the outbreak, and it is expected that the country's team will begin training in mid-August and continue until mid-November.
Qatar, as hosts, have locked up a spot in the 2022 World Cup outright. According to the rules, the 12-team tournament in Asia will produce 4.5 World Cup main round spots. After the draw of the groups, the top two teams from the AB and AB groups will advance directly, while the third place will have to go through a play-off, and the winners will have the chance to participate in the cross-continental play-offs, which will ultimately win the World Cup berths.
