Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Macau: A 1-1 second-leg draw did nothing to dent Cambodia’s progress to the second round of joint-qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup, with the ASEAN side advancing courtesy of 3-1 aggregate win.
Buoyed by a 3-0 win from last Thursday’s first leg in Phnom Penh, the Cambodians extended their advantage just before the half-hour mark through Bin Chanthacheary before Macau restored a modicum of footballing pride by earning a share of the second-leg spoils through Leong Ka Hang’s 52nd minute penalty.
Cambodia’s 3-1 aggregate victory sees them join the five other Round 1 winners in advancing to the second round where the 34 highest-ranked teams await. The 40 nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams and compete according to a double round robin format.
The Round 2 qualification matches will be held between June 11, 2015 to March 29, 2016.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup finals.