According to the regulations, 12 team is divided into two groups, with 6 teams in each group. The top two in each group will advance directly to the World Cup in Russia, and the third place will play off. The winner will play off with the fourth place in Central and North America, and the winner will advance to the World Cup finals. According to the arrangement of AFC, the draw for the Asian 12 World Cup preliminaries will be held at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on April 12. The principle of drawing lots is to divide the files according to the latest FIFA ranking published on April 7. The latest ranking of FIFA national teams has not yet been released, so we might as well take the ranking in March as a reference (the world ranking in brackets): Iran (44), Japan (56), South Korea (57), Saudi Arabia (60), United Arab Emirates (64), Australia (67), Uzbekistan (74), Qatar (80) and Iraq. Although the group draw for the 12 competition hasn't come out yet, the schedule has long been determined. According to the schedule of the AFC, the 12 top-level event will start on 1 in September this year, and the second round will be held on September 6th. 65438+1October 6th, 1 1, the third and fourth rounds of the 12 tournament will be played. The fifth round 165438+ 10/5 is the last round of 20 16. On March 23rd and 28th next year, the 12 Top Tournament will enter the 6th and 7th rounds. There will be a round of 12 competition in June, August and September next year, and all competitions will end on September 5, 20 17. In addition, the AFC has determined the time of the intercontinental play-offs: 20 17, 10, 5, 10, 10.
The just-concluded Top 40 tournament is the second stage of the Asian regional qualifiers for the 20 18 World Cup, and the winner advances to the third stage, namely the Top 40 tournament of 12, namely the final stage of the Asian regional qualifiers for the 20 18 World Cup. Only by winning the 12 competition (***4.5 places) can we finally qualify for the 20 18 World Cup.
12 tournament 12 teams are divided into two groups, A and B, with 6 teams in each group, and the home and away double round robin system is adopted. In the end, the top two in each group will directly advance to the 20 18 World Cup finals in Russia. The third place of the two groups will play two rounds of home and away games on 20 17 10 on 5 October and June 10, and the winner of the two rounds will be in June 20 17.