UAE drawn in Group A for third round of WC qualifiers
The UAE was drawn in Group A, as the Asia’s best learnt of their opponents following the conclusion of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar virtual draw in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
The qualifiers will run from September 2021 to March next year.
The 12 teams were drawn into two groups with Japan, the continent’s top team in the FIFA World Ranking, drawn in Group B while second-ranked Iran were drawn in Group A.
Iran, with five previous appearances at the global showpiece, will have South Korea, UAE, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon for company in Group A.
Japan, seeking a seventh consecutive appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals, were joined in Group B by Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, Oman and Vietnam.
Both groups promise to be sizzling affairs with Iran having to contend with a South Korea seeking an 11th appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals. UAE and Iraq have made the finals once each while Syria and Lebanon will be seeking maiden appearances.
Group B promises to be equally thrilling with Australia and Saudi Arabia both having made the finals five times previously and China once. Oman and Vietnam have never qualified for the global showpiece.
The winner and runner-up of each group will win places in the World Cup finals. The thirdplaced teams will advance to the Asian playoff, which determines the side that progresses to an intercontinental playoff.
Based on the special FIFA Ranking released for Asian teams on June 18, top seeds Japan and the Iran were placed in Pot 1 of the draw, with Pot 2 comprising Australia and South Korea while Pot 3 had Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Pot 4 contained Iraq and China, followed by Oman and Syria in Pot 5 and debutants Vietnam and Lebanon in Pot 6.
The AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar is scheduled to be played on the following 10 match days: Sept.2 and 7, Oct.7 and 12, and Nov.11 and 16, 2021, as well as Jan.27 and Feb.1, 2022, before reaching its climax on March 24 and 29, 2022.
Earlier, the 12 sides went through extremely challenging times to book their places from the second round of qualifying with the focus on Group G.
Group G of the second round of the Asian Qualifiers was easily the most competitive with the UAE in a group that had four teams from Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The group certainly lived up to expectations with the lead changing hands several times as the UAE unexpectedly struggled to exert their influence.
Looking to add to their sole appearance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Finals, UAE opened their campaign with 2-1 and 5-0 wins over Malaysia and Indonesia respectively.
That, however, was followed by a 2-1 loss to Thailand while Vietnam defeated the West Asian side 1-0.
With the Asian Qualifiers postponed ater Matchday Six due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UAE found themselves in fourth place with Vietnam seting the pace while Malaysia and Thailand were also above the Emiratis.
The resumption in June 2021 saw the UAE hosting Group H and Bert van Marwijk’s side hit the ground running as they defeated Malaysia 4-0 and Indonesia 5-0.
That was followed by a 3-1 win over Thailand to set them up nicely for a top-of-the-table clash with Vietnam, who went into the match only needing a draw to win Group G.
UAE, however, took a firm grip on the tie to race into a 3-0 lead before holding off a fightback from Vietnam to win 3-2 to emerge Group G winners and seal their place in the final round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers and book their ticket to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals.
Australia scored 28 goals and conceded two, playing their last four games from June 3-15 in Kuwait when the AFC decided to play each group at a central venue because of travel restrictions.
“What we learnt in the second phase where we had to play seven out of eight games away from home, and we won all eight games, has given the players a lot of belief and confidence when they play away from home,” Australia coach Graham Arnold said in a streamed interview following the draw.
The winner and runner-up of each group will secure a place in the World Cup finals. The third-placed teams will advance to the Asian playoff, which determines the side that progresses to an intercontinental playoff