Kuala Lumpur, July 17: India were placed with Qatar in the Group E after the draw for the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 here on Wednesday (July 17). Other teams in the group are Oman, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The 34 top-ranked sides in Asia - according to the FIFA World Ranking for June - are joined in Round 2 by the six winners of the Round 1 ties -- Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guam, Malaysia, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.
The competing nations were drawn into eight groups of five teams, with a side from each of the pots (also determined by FIFA ranking) making up the five-team pools.
The matches in Round 2 will be played from September 5, 2019 through June 9, 2020.
The group winners and four best runners-up (12 teams in total) will advance to the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying. Those 12 sides will also automatically qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup, with the next best 24 teams competing in a separate qualifying competition to determine the remaining sides that will take part at China 2023.
The grouping
Group A: China PR, Syria, Philippines, Maldives, Guam
Group B: Australia, Jordan, Chinese Taipei, Kuwait, Nepal
Group C: IR Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Cambodia
Group D: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Yemen, Singapore
Group E: Bangladesh, Oman, India, Afghanistan, Qatar
Group F: Japan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Mongolia
Group G: UAE, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
Group H: Korea Republic, Lebanon, Korea DPR, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka