War Elephants to know Cup rivals today

War Elephants to know Cup rivals today

Thailand likely to get top sides in draw AFC's World Cup qualifiers draw today

The draw for the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) second round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers will be made in Kuala Lumpur today.

There are 40 teams in five pots and the draw will divide them into eight groups with five teams in each.

They will play each other on home and away basis.

World No.114 Thailand are in Pot 3 with Palestine (99), India (101), Bahrain (111), Tajikistan (120), North Korea (121), the Philippines (124) and Taiwan (125).

They could face some of the AFC's top sides such as Iran (21), Japan (26), South Korea (37), Australia (41) and reigning Asian champions Qatar (55), who are in Pot 1.

The other nations in Pot 1 are the UAE (67), Saudi Arabia (72) and China (74).

In Pot 2 are Iraq (76), Syria (83), Uzbekistan (85), Lebanon (86), Oman (86), Kyrgyzstan (95), Jordan (97) and Vietnam (98), the highest-ranked Asean side.

Teams in the other two pots include Myanmar (140), Afghanistan (149), Maldives (151), Kuwait (156), Indonesia (159), Singapore (160), Nepal (161), Malaysia (168), Cambodia (173), Mongolia (187), Bangladesh (188), Guam (193) and Sri Lanka (201).

The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up advance to the third qualifying round. The 12 teams also qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup.

The first matches of the second qualifying round will take place in September.

The War Elephants, who have never qualified for the World Cup finals, are still looking for a coach after Sirisak Yodyardthai quit last month following poor results.

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