Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has congratulated the 12 teams for securing their spots in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. With the new qualifying format, the 12 teams are also the first teams to have booked their places for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
“I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to all 12 teams for edging closer to the world biggest sporting spectacle. All of them have shown great determination and tenacity and truly deserve their places amongst the continent’s best”, he said.
The AFC President went on to note the progress of the developing nations: “The new qualifying competition format has been designed to expose Asia’s developing football nations to greater, high-level competition. I am pleased to note the valiant efforts of our aspiring nations throughout this hard-fought campaign and I wish them the very best as they continue to compete for a place in the 2019 Asian Cup in Qatar.”
The AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 play-off draw will take place at the AFC House, Kuala Lumpur, on April 7 where the remaining teams will learn their fate as they vie for the remaining 12 spots in the UAE. The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Asian Qualifiers Final Round Draw will be held in Kuala Lumpur on April 12, with the 12 teams divided into two groups of six.
The six teams in each group will play each other on a home-and-away basis with top two sides from each group booking their place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals. The two third-placed teams will face each other over two legs, with the winner taking on the side that finishes fourth in the fifth round of the CONCACAF qualifiers in a two-legged inter-confederation playoff.
Source: the-afc.com