Feasible task for Iran in World Cup qualification

PFDC – RIO DE JANEIRO, Iran will have to finish among the top two teams in group E of Asian World Cup qualification round 3 with Qatar, Bahrain and Indonesia in order to qualify for the final stage of qualification.

Top seed Iran avoided the strongest teams from each pot, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq or North Korea, however, still got a challenging group with two strong Persian Gulf rivals alongside Indonesia in the draw held in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.

Good news could be a possible elimination of North Korea in a tough group C, which would improve Iran’s seeding for the final round, should the seeding procedure be based on the last qualification’s final results instead of FIFA ranking like today.

Bad news, however, was the draw for the WCQ playoff games, where it was determined that the fifth team of the AFC qualification will have to face a South American team, whereas the fourth CONCACAF team will face the winner for Ocenania’s competition.

Iran’s campaign will kick off on September 2. The top two of each group will advance to the final round where the top two teams of two groups of five teams will directly qualify for World Cup. The two third placed teams of the final round will fight for the right to face the fifth team of South America for a final World Cup ticket.