KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 -- The first step for Asian teams on the road to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was taken on Wednesday, with the drawing of the first round of the Asian qualifiers.
At the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur here on Wednesday, the 12 lowest-ranked AFC teams were separated into two pots to draw six home-and-away matches.
The AFC section of the FIFA World Cup qualifying stage will also double as the qualifying tournament for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Seeded teams Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Bhutan, Mongolia and Macao will face Bangladesh, Guam, Brunei Darussalam, Timor-Leste, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for a place in the next qualifying round.
Mongolia is set to face Brunei, Laos will face off against Bangladesh, Cambodia take on Pakistan, while Bhutan will play Guam.
Malaysia is slated to face Timor-Leste and Macao will meet Sri Lanka, according to the draw.
The first leg of Qualification Round 1 will take place on June 6, with the return leg scheduled to take place on June 11. The six winners will join Asia's top 34 teams in Qualification Round 2, which will commence in September this year.