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Four-times Asian champions Japan will face familiar foes in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after Hajime Moriyasu’s side were drawn to take on Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
South Korea will meet Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait in Group B while Iran take on Qatar, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyz Republic and North Korea in Group A.
Japan, who have qualified for the last seven World Cup tournaments, played both Saudi Arabia and Australia in the final phase of qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Moriyasu’s team topped the group and were joined in securing an automatic berth at the most recent tournament by the Saudis while Australia eventually qualified via an intercontinental playoff.
“We have been drawn into a very difficult and challenging group,” said Japan’s technical director Masakuni Yamamoto.
“We have matches against those who have experienced the World Cup in the past, but also in places with a climate difference and transportation challenges.
“We have to ensure the best preparations for our players. There are many challenges.”
The draw has left the Chinese facing a daunting challenge to secure a place at their first World Cup since making their debut, and so far only appearance in 2002.
“It’s a tough draw for us,” said China coach Branko Ivankovic.
“It’s the toughest group compared to the A and B groups but this is something we expected because we were in the fifth pot and we know that we cannot find a weak team.”
Iran will be aiming to progress to a fourth World Cup in a row — and seventh in total — after appearing in 2014, 2018 and 2022 and take on a Qatar side attempting to qualify for the tournament for the first time.
The Qataris, who won a second consecutive Asian Cup title in February, played at the 2022 edition as hosts but have never progressed to the finals through the preliminaries.
South Korea will be favourites to advance from Group B but take on a Jordan side who defeated them in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup earlier this year.
The group also features a resurgent Iraq, who are attempting to qualify for a first World Cup since 1986 and up-and-coming Uzbekistan.
The preliminaries begin on Sept. 5 and run until June 10, with the winners and runners-up in each group qualifying automatically for the finals in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The third and fourth place finishers in each group will advance to a fourth round, which will determine the continent’s two remaining guaranteed qualifiers.
