Asia's top ranked team, who will be appearing in their second consecutive FIFA World Cup, are in Group B with reigning European champions Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

IR Iran will open their campaign against Morocco on June 15 before facing 2010 FIFA World Cup winners Spain on June 20. They play Portugal five days later.

IR Iran's initial target will be to qualify for the Round of 16, having not advanced past the group stage in their previous four appearances at the FIFA World Cup.

They will head to Russia with confidence, having sailed through qualifying as they sealed their place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in unbeaten fashion.

Overview

With three of their six planned pre-World Cup friendlies cancelled, IR Iran’s preparations have been less than ideal. But with an abundance of talent across the squad, Queiroz will still be confident of a strong showing in Russia.

Drawn in the so-called “Group of Death” alongside the last two European champions; Spain and Portugal as well as Morocco, many believe Team Melli have their work cut out for them.

However, a defence that conceded just five goals in their 18 qualifiers’ games and an attack line boasting some of the continent’s finest forwards could cause upsets if the Portuguese coach gets his tactics right.

IR Iran are joined by 2010 FIFA World Cup winners Spain, 2016 European champions Portugal, as well as Morocco, who did not concede a single goal in six CAF qualifying group games. The Iranians will need to draw on past successes for inspiration, and we look back at their finest World Cup moments so far:

Korea Republic, who will be appearing in the FIFA World Cup for the 10th time, are not the finished article just yet, admitted Shin after his team fell 3-1 to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday.

"We will prepare thoroughly for the World Cup once we have settled in at the training camp," Shin told the media prior to leaving for Austria on Sunday.

Argentine Pizzi named the 23-man squad shortly after Saudi Arabia fell to a 3-0 defeat to Peru in a friendly in St. Gallen, Switzerland on Sunday and Al Abed missing out wasn't a big surprise as the Al Hilal player was coming off a season blighted by injuries.

Al Abed came on as a substitute against Peru but Pizzi obviously must have felt that taking him to Russia would be risky.

His absence, however, will be a blow as Al Abed scored four goals in Saudi Arabia's qualifying campaign - a haul that helped seal a return to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since the 2016 edition.

Overview

Japan’s preparation for Russia 2018 has not been the most straightforward of Asia's representatives, with coach Vahid Halilhodzic departing the helm just two months before the competition to be replaced with technical director Akira Nishino.

The former Gamba Osaka boss attempted a new three-man defence in his first match in charge, a 2-0 defeat at home to Ghana on May 30, as well as offering a reprieve to big names Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda, and Shinji Okazaki, whose places were in doubt under Halilhodzic.

Australia first attempted to qualify for the FIFA World Cup ahead of England 1966, but fell to DPR Korea, losing 9-2 on aggregate. They came much closer to qualifying for the following tournament, but fell at the final hurdle, before finally making their debut in 1974. the-AFC.com looks back at the Socceroos' greatest World Cup moments.