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KUALA LUMPUR: AFC has announced the seeding and qualification process for Asian teams for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. The seeding for the qualification format is based on the results from the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and earlier qualifying rounds. The draw for Round 1 will be conducted at AFC House here on Monday 6th August 2007 at 3pm. The draw results will be announced immediately on www.the-afc.com.
“In view of the number of matches that need to be played in the qualification rounds, we believe AFC has established the best possible schedule for the competition,” said Clare Kenny Tipton, Director of Communications and Marketing. The seeding is as follows: | | 1. Australia | 16. Qatar | 31. Malaysia | | 2. Korea Republic | 17. Syria | 32. Chinese Taipei | | 3. Saudi Arabia | 18. Palestine | 33. Bangladesh | | 4. Japan | 19. Thailand | 34. Macau | | 5. IR. Iran | 20. Turkmenistan | 35. Pakistan | | 6. Bahrain | 21. Tajikistan | 36. Afghanistan | | 7. Uzbekistan | 22. Indonesia | 37. Mongolia | | 8. Kuwait | 23. Hong Kong | 38. Guam | | 9. DPR Korea | 24. Yemen | 39. Nepal | | 10. China | 25. Vietnam | 40. Cambodia | | 11. Jordan | 26. Kyrgyzstan | 41. Bhutan | | 12. Iraq | 27. Maldives | 42. Myanmar | | 13. Lebanon | 28. India | 43. Timor Leste | | 14. Oman | 29. Singapore |  | | 15. UAE | 30. Sri Lanka | |
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The format is as follows: - 43 teams
- 4.5 qualification berths for Asia
- Teams ranked 1-5 receive a bye to Round 3
| Round 1: | Teams ranked 6-43 are paired by draw and play one home-and-away knock-out round. Teams ranked from 6-24 will be placed in Pot A and teams ranked from 25-43 will be placed in Pot B. From 19 teams that progress through this round the lowest eight based on ranking move to round 2 and the other eleven to round 3.
Match Day 1: 8 Oct 2007
Match Day 2: 28 Oct 2007
or dates to be determined by teams but both matches to be completed by 28th October 2007.
| | Round 2: | Eight teams are paired by draw and play one home-and-away knock-out round. Four teams progress to round 3
Match Day 1: 9 Nov 2007
Match Day 2: 18 Nov 2007
or dates to be determined by teams but both matches to be completed by 18th November 2007
| | Round 3: | Eleven qualifiers from round 1 and four qualifiers from round 2 are joined by five highest ranked countries. These 20 teams are split into 5 groups of 4. First and second in each group qualify to next round
Match Day 1: 6 Feb 2008
Match Day 2: 26 Mar 2008
Match Day 3: 7 Jun 2008
Match Day 4: 14 Jun 2008
Match Day 5: 6 Sep 2008
Match Day 6: 10 Sep 2008
| | Round 4: | 10 remaining teams split into two groups of 5 teams
Teams finishing first and second in each group automatically qualify
Match Day 1: 15 Oct 2008
Match Day 2: 19 Nov 2008
Match Day 3: 11 Feb 2009
Match Day 4: 28 Mar 2009
Match Day 5: 1 Apr 2009
Match Day 6: 6 Jun 2009
Match Day 7: 10 Jun 2009
Match Day 8: 17 Jun 2009
Match Day 9: 5 Sep 2009
Match Day 10: 9 Sep 2009
| | AFC Playoff: | Teams finishing 3rd in each group from Round 4 play home-and-away playoff
Match Day 1: 10 Oct 2009
Match Day 2: 14 Oct 2009
| | AFC/OFC Playoff: | Team winning AFC Playoff plays winner of OFC qualification in a home and away playoff
Match Day 1: 14 Nov 2009
Match Day 2: 21 Nov 2009 |
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