DUSHANBE, 18.06.2019. (NIAT Khovar) – The Asian Qualifiers draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Preliminary Competition and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 will be held at the AFC House on July 17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The national football team of Tajikistan, which is currently in the 120th position in the FIFA ranking, ended up in the third pot with Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, North Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Philippines, reported the Football Federation of Tajikistan.

The strongest AFC teams, Iran, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and China are in the first pot. The second pot is made up by Iraq, Syria, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam and Jordan. The fourth pot includes Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait and Malaysia. The fifth pot is formed by Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, and Guam. Another participant of the fifth pot will be Macau or Sri Lanka. The decision on the outcome of the match between Macau and Sri Lanka is still pending.

Teams from 40 nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams and will compete in a double round robin format, wherein each contestant meets all other contestants in turn. The matches will be held from September 5, 2019 to June 9, 2020.

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup China and the third round of the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

In the third round of the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, 12 teams will be divided into two groups. Following its results, the two best teams from each group will advance to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The next 24 teams that will not get into the third round of the qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup will compete for the 12 remaining slots of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China.