The Asian qualifiers draw for the 2022 World Cup qualifying round and the 2023 Asian Cup finals will be held on July 17 in Kuala Lumpur, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said yesterday.
Forty nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams with seedings based on the latest FIFA world rankings released this month. Teams will face each other home and away, with matches to be held from Sept. 5 to June 9 next year.
Twelve teams -- eight group winners and four best runners-up -- advance to both the Asian Cup finals to be held in China and the final round of World Cup qualifiers.
Meanwhile, the next best 24 teams will compete in a separate round of qualifiers to fight for the remaining 12 slots in the 24-team Asian Cup.
