Asian champions Australia landed in the same group as heavyweights Japan on Tuesday as teams were drawn for the final stage of regional qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. Ange Postecoglou's Socceroos will also face Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and minnows Thailand in Group B when games start in September. Sleeping giants China, who scraped into the third round after a stop-start qualifying campaign so far, have a tough assignment against Iran and South Korea in Group A.
War-torn Syria, Uzbekistan and Qatar, the 2022 World Cup hosts, are the other teams in Group A. The top two in each group will qualify for the World Cup in Russia, while two third-placed sides will face each other for the right to contest an intercontinental play-off. Postecoglou told AFP that all the games will be "challenging", especially with Japan.
"All the games are going to be challenging. We will be playing against Japan. It will be tough," he said. Iran's highly-regarded Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz predicted South Korea, Japan and Australia would qualify for the World Cup in Russia. "South Korea, Japan and Australia will go to the World Cup. The last one spot will be fought by Iran, China and Uzbekistan," he said.
Queiroz said travelling long jouneys on commercial flights would take a toll on his players. "Besides needing good preparations you need resources like having shorter air travel time for the players," he said. Queiroz said playing against China in particular would be difficult and the team was making huge improvements. "South Korea is very strong and we have Qatar too. We have a complete new team. They are young and talented but no experience," he said. Qatar's head coach Jose Daniel Carreno said he was pleased to be playing in Group A. Group A: Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, China, Qatar, Syria Group B: Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Thailand.