- Forty teams will participate at this stage
RIYADH: The Asian qualifiers draw took place on Wednesday for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Saudi Arabia are top-seeded in Group D, alongside Uzbekistan, Palestine, Yemen and Singapore.
Forty teams will participate at this stage. They will be divided into eight groups, each involving five teams.
Top-ranked Iran were drawn with neighboring Iraq, plus Bahrain, Hong Kong and Cambodia, in Group C.
UAE are top-seeded in a Group G loaded with Southeast Asian derbies, involving Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Australia, which play in the Asian Football Confederation, will play Jordan, Taiwan, Kuwait and Nepal in Group B.
World Cup host Qatar also play as this group stage doubles up as qualifiers for the 2023 Asian Cup being played in China. Qatar will play Oman, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh in Group E.
China are in Group A with Syria, Philippines, Maldives and Guam. Japan is in Group F with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia.
North Korea and South Korea have been drawn together in Group H that includes Lebanon, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.
The teams will compete in the two-stage league system. The tournaments will take place from Sept. 5 to June 9, 2020. The top team in each group will qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup alongside the top four teams that finish in second place.
The same teams will also qualify for the 2022 World Cup finals.