Australia, Bahrain, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea join the fifteen survivors from the second round of Asian qualifying for the fight for Brasil 2014. These twenty teams will have to navigate two group stages to qualify for the finals, but only the draw for the third round was performed today. The twenty teams were split into five groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the fourth round. Each team will play the other three teams in their group home and away for a total of six matches.The top seed in each group is listed first, followed by the second seed, the third seed, and the fourth seed.
Group A
China
Jordan
Iraq
Singapore
Group B
South Korea
Kuwait
United Arab Emirates
Lebanon
Group C
Japan
Uzbekistan
Syria
North Korea
Group D
Australia
Saudi Arabia
Oman
Thailand
Group E
Iran
Qatar
Bahrain
Indonesia
My picks for the ten teams advancing are:
Iraq, Jordan, South Korea, Kuwait, Japan, Uzbekistan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Qatar.
Group A pits China and Iraq against each other as in the first group stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. China is the weakest of the top seeds, and has not really put together any memorable results since qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Jordan and Iraq both qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Iraq for sure should advance out of this group, but the fight for second may come down to which of the three favorites can get a win in Singapore. Jordan is the upset pick over China.
Groups B and D should be straightforward for their respective top two seeds.
Group C is the Group of Death in the AFC Third Round. The champion and fourth-place side from the 2011 AFC Asian Cup join a 2010 FIFA World Cup participant and a strong West Asian side. North Korea is a world-class defensive side, but they will have difficulty finding goals, leading me to believe they will fall at this stage. North Korea present a stiffer challenge than Syria to Uzbekistan's bid for second, but North Korea are just as likely to lose at home to Syria as they are to win in Uzbekistan. Japan are the class of Asia and would steer safely through any Asian group. Uzbekistan should follow.
Group E is Iran's group to win. The real fun is the battle between Gulf rivals Bahrain and Qatar, two countries with under two million inhabitants who always punch above their weight in football and economic might. For me, this is the greatest tossup of the AFC Third Round, but Qatar are the pick due to the added resources they are sure to receive for their training and coaching from their government, who is keen on having a successful national side before Qatar host the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals.
Links
Group A breakdown:
Group B breakdown:
Group D breakdown:
Group E breakdown:
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