The draw for the 2018 World Cup will take place in Kuala Lumpur this evening at 17:00 MST with Socceroos Coach, Ange Postecoglou, among those in attendance.
It will be here that the recently crowned 2015 Asian Cup winners will find out who they will face in the qualifying rounds leading up to Russia 2018.
“We don’t just want to qualify, we want to go there to Russia in 2018 and do some damage, scare a few countries and actually try and win the thing,” Postecoglou said.
Saying that, there is a tremendous amount of football to be played between now and Russia 2018 and Postecoglou’s statement may be just a bit premature even after achieving a recent draw against World Champion, Germany.
It should be noted, however, that qualifying has already begun for some nations within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The number of nations taking part has already been reduced from 46 to 40.
Surviving the cull were India (2-0 winners over Nepal), Yemen (3-1 winners over Pakistan), Cambodia (4-1 winners over Macau), Chinese Taipei (2-1 winners over Brunei), surprise package Bhutan (2-1 winners over Sri Lanka) and Timor Leste (5-1 winners over Mongolia).
These six teams will now join the other 34 to make up a group of 40 that will be placed in 5 pots based on the recent 2015 FIFA ranking. From the draw to take place in Kuala Lumpur, eight groups will emerge with the top ranked teams, which include Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Australia, UAE, Uzbekistan, China PR and Iraq. These sides are seeded and consequently will not play against each other in the next round.
The teams in these eight groups of five teams will play in a double round-robin format where each team will play home and away matches. The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up will advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals.
The 12 teams will then be divided into two groups of six to once again play home and away matches in a double round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will advance to the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the two third-placed teams will advance to the next round, where they will play off in home and away matches. They will then compete in an inter-confederation playoff to decide which nation will fill the four or five spots which FIFA have allotted the AFC in the World Cup.
In the fifth round, the two third-placed teams from the fourth round will compete in a two-legged play-off. The winner advances to the intercontinental play-offs against the fifth-placed team from South America’s (CONMEBOL) World Cup qualifying phase.
It is assumed based on recent form that the Socceroos will make it through to the third qualifying round and it is here they will face the likes of Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, UAE, Uzbekistan, China PR and Iraq, but it is also here where things start to get interesting. If the Socceroos come first or second in their group of six, they go straight through. If not then they must go through to the fourth round and battle it out.
Of course the luck of the draw is everything, but if Australia can keep the same form that it manufactured in the 2015 Asian Cup it is in with a chance, but we must not forget that the Socceroos will be playing a large part of these matches away with parochial opposition crowds, somewhat interesting facilities, accommodation and tough climates.
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