KUALA LUMPUR, 27th June, 2024 (WAM) -- Four-times Asian champions Japan will face familiar foes in the third round of Asia's 2026 World Cup qualifiers after Hajime Moriyasu's side were drawn to take on Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
South Korea will meet Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait in Group B while Iran take on Qatar, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea in Group A, Reuters reported.
Japan, who have qualified for the last seven World Cup tournaments, played both Saudi Arabia and Australia in the final phase of qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Moriyasu's team topped the group and were joined in securing an automatic berth at the most recent tournament by the Saudis while Australia eventually qualified via an intercontinental playoff.
The draw has left the Chinese facing a daunting challenge to secure a place at their first World Cup since making their debut, and so far only appearance in 2002.
Iran will be aiming to progress to a fourth World Cup in a row - and seventh in total - after appearing in 2014, 2018 and 2022 and take on a Qatar side attempting to qualify for the tournament for the first time.
The Qataris, who won a second consecutive Asian Cup title in February, played at the 2022 edition as hosts but have never progressed to the finals through the preliminaries.
The Koreans will be favourites to advance from Group B but take on a Jordan side that defeated them in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup earlier this year.
The group also features a resurgent Iraq, who are attempting to qualify for a first World Cup since 1986 and up-and-coming Uzbekistan.
The preliminaries begin on 5th September and run until 10th June, with the winners and runners-up in each group qualifying automatically for the finals in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The third and fourth place finishers in each group will advance to a fourth round, which will determine the continent's two remaining guaranteed qualifiers.