Australia moves to top pot of seed!

[Keano]

Honestly as long as we can avoid Saudi Arabia and Qatar then I am fine with any group we are in. Because the Saudis def will be a headache to deal with, not because they are even a quality side(granted I'm sure they can cause trouble), but because of that unnecessary political bs. And the same goes to Qatar, their UN team will be stupid to deal with

Ditto!

I would hate to see us grouped with Qatar and KSA. We all well know the consequences of being in the same group with these 2 countries. I would take Uzbekistan and Iraq over these 2 teams any day, it doesn't mean they're weaker teams, it just means we will encounter way less headaches and unsportsmanlike conducts by them.

[Tehranto]

Ditto!
I would hate to see us grouped with Qatar and KSA. We all well know the consequences of being in the same group with these 2 countries. I would take Uzbekistan and Iraq over these 2 teams any day, it doesn't mean they're weaker teams, it just means we will encounter way less headaches and unsportsmanlike conducts by them.

I don't know about the Iraqis being respected sportsmen - as we saw last time.

But avoiding Qatar, who are superior to Iraq, and avoiding Saudi, who are not better than Uzbekistan, for non footballing reasons are important.

[Keano]

I don't know about the Iraqis being respected sportsmen - as we saw last time.
But avoiding Qatar, who are superior to Iraq, and avoiding Saudi, who are not better than Uzbekistan, for non footballing reasons are important.

I am not advocating for Iraq, LOOL not sure why you keep thinking I am an Iraqi football fan. In this discussion, the common sense is between Iraq and Qatar it's much wiser and better to void Qatar, this is due to many reasons, one being that Qatar often pays and buys its way into its objectives, plus it's an international team, plays absolutely more unfair and unsporstmanship than Iraq (Don't tell me their last match of 2014 WCQ against Uzbekistan and that phony loss was just a coincidence, or the solid proof that they bribed Lebanon players to lose against Qatar was just a myth) not to mention Qatar's many many other similar attempts in damaging TM's fate during different competitions, in particular WCQs.

Once a wise man takes all of the above into consideration, then his logic and rations tells him hell yeah I want to play Iraq as opposed to Qatar!

[shahabGAOL]

I am happy that we not will meet Australia. But even then we will win.

[Ghermez Agha]

Ditto!
I would hate to see us grouped with Qatar and KSA. We all well know the consequences of being in the same group with these 2 countries. I would take Uzbekistan and Iraq over these 2 teams any day, it doesn't mean they're weaker teams, it just means we will encounter way less headaches and unsportsmanlike conducts by them.

What's funny to me is how ppl want Iraq or KSA just because they think since we're 10 times as talented that gets rid of the factors you've listed. The 2002 WCQ team is a prime example.....on paper was undoubtedly a top 2-3 team in Asia (if not the best) and didn't cope with the pressures. The team actually had a nice combo of experience and youth as well I wouldn't say as much youth as there is now but AK8, kia, kavianpour, nikbakht, etc. are some examples with the guys from the 98' team. The less Arabs the easier our route will be.

[perspolis#1]

What's funny to me is how ppl want Iraq or KSA just because they think since we're 10 times as talented that gets rid of the factors.The team actually had a nice combo of experience and youth as well I wouldn't say as much youth as there is now but AK8, kia, kavianpour, nikbakht, etc. are some examples with the guys from the 98' team. The less Arabs the easier our route will be.

I would rather want Uzbekistan than Saudi. Saudi's are painfully consistent with late goals and beating weaker teams. We might slip up in a tie with Thailand or Qatar but they will never.

We have to choose between Arabs for POT 5. Qatar is an international team and some of their players are track stars only. Think about their African defenders Dejagah struggled with in the Asian cup.

Iraqs FA has internal issues. They have an Ali Daei situation. Younis Mahmoud sucks now but people are loyal to him. Theres a rift between Younis Mahmoud and the legionaiires just like we had in 2006. We need to use this to our advantage. You're forgetting how we were all over Iraq before Pouladi got red carded.

[AIrani]

Football is affected by other factors such as travel time, injuries, etc.

Iran should play its own game and make all Iranians proud.