By Paul Nicholson
June 15 – The Asian Qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup final groups and automatic entry for 12 teams to the 2023 Asian Cup will be decided tonight across the AFC region as the preliminary rounds go down to the wire with some big names still looking to secure places in the next stage.
Iran vs Iraq, Saudi Arabia vs Uzbekistan and Vietnam vs UAE are all winner-takes-all match-ups, though losers may still squeeze into the next rounds as best group runners up.
Perhaps the most intriguing of the pairings is at the top of Group C where Iran and Iraq clash at the Sheikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium, in Bahrain. Iraq lead the group on 17 points two ahead of Iran who have been unbeaten since the group resumed centralised play.
Iran are looking to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup and have been clinical in the last 4 games scoring 17 and conceding just once. Iraq will be a different proposition and need only a draw to go through.
Bahrain could still qualify but need to defeat Hong Kong by a big margin and hope for Iran lose to secure second place in Group C.
Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan go head to head for the top spot in Group D. Saudi are top of the group on 17 points from five wins and two draws, while Uzbekistan two points behind with from five wins and two losses, one of which came against Saudi at the Pakhtakor Central Stadium in Tashkent almost two years ago thanks to a Salem Al Dawsari’s last minute goal that gave his side a 3-2 win away.
Neither side have lost or conceded a goal since the restart, with Saudi Arabia winning three from three, scoring 11 goals and Uzbekistan winning two from two, scoring six goals.
In Group G, Vietnam go into the final game just two points ahead of hosts UAE. Vietnam are unbeaten in seven and need one point from the game to go through. Vietnam won the first match between the two nations before lockdown with Nguyen Tien Linh strike from 30 yards.
The UAE’s hopes of progression looked to be over having lost to both Vietnam and Thailand in their last two matches before the pandemic, but an unbeaten run on restart has put them back in the qualification frame and kept their hopes of Qatar 2022 qualification alive.
Last night South Korea joined Australia, Japan and Syria as the only qualified teams for the AFC’s final Qatar 2022 group qualifying stage – two groups of six with the top two in each group qualifying.
Qatar have already topped Group E, automatically qualifying for the Asian Cup 2023 in China. As hosts of the 2022 World Cup they are pre-qualified opening up an extra slot for second placed teams groups into the final 12 of World Cup qualifying. Oman look set to take one of those slots. Second in the group behind Qatar, a win against bottom side Bangladesh would give Oman 18 points and almost certain qualification.
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