World Cup 2022 Qualifiers Draw Format

The Asian Football Federation has announced the time, venue and format of the 2nd Qualifier of the 2022 World Cup in Asia. Specifically, the drawing ceremony for the WC 2022 will take place on July 17, 2019 at the AFC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia headquarters.

At the 2022 World Cup qualifying draw in Asia, 40 teams were divided into 5 seed groups, each of 8 teams, arranged according to FIFA World Cup in June 2019. Vietnam ranked 96 in the world and 15 in Asia, located in the No. 2 seed group.

The procedure of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers Draw in Asia stipulates some remarkable points:

- 40 teams were drawn into 8 groups, each with 5 teams.

- Pot’s members (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) will not be in same group.

- Regional teams (East Asia, ASEAN, West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia) may be on the same table.

- Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria may not face Palestine for political reasons (*).

- China may not sit in same group with Hong Kong for political reasons (*).

The 2nd qualifying round will take 8 best teams + 4 second best teams to participate in the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup (at the same time earning tickets for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 in China). In the case of Qatar being in the top 12 but not in the final qualifying round, the fifth-ranked team with the best record of the best group will have tickets to go on.

Seed groups at the 2022 World Cup Qualifier draw:

Group 1: Iran, Japan, Korea, Australia, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, China

Group 2: Iraq, Syria, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Jordan.

Group 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan

Group 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia

Group 5: Singapore, Indonesia, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau / Sri Lanka.

(*) The draw for the 2022 World Cup Qualifier has not been officially confirmed by AFC ...