KUALA LUMPUR: Thailand’s national football team will face three other Southeast Asian nations -- Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia – along with top-seeded United Arab Emirates in Group G of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
North Korea and South Korea will play each other home and away in Group H, along with Lebanon, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen were also paired in Wednesday's draw that involved 40 national teams and some political sensitivities.
The Saudis, which played at the 2018 World Cup, are top-seeded in Group D that also has Uzbekistan, Palestine and Singapore.
Top-ranked Iran was drawn with neighbouring Iraq, plus Bahrain, Hong Kong and Cambodia, in Group C.
Australia, which plays in the Asian soccer confederation, will play Jordan, Taiwan, Kuwait and Nepal in Group B.
World Cup host Qatar also plays as this group stage doubles up as qualifiers for the 2023 Asian Cup being played in China. Qatar will play Oman, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh in Group E.
China is in Group A with Syria, Philippines, Maldives and Guam. Japan is in Group F with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia.
The eight groups play from September through June.
Group winners and the four best runners-up advance to another group stage, played from September 2020 to October 2021. Those 12 teams also qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup.
Four Asian teams will qualify directly for the World Cup. A fifth nation can advance to Qatar in an intercontinental playoff round in March 2022.
Former Japan manager Akira Nishino, who guided the Samurai Blue to the last 16 at the 2018 World Cup, was on Wednesday officially named head coach of the Thailand national and under-23 men's teams.