AFC Fourth Round Pot Allocations

The final ten teams in Asia will begin the AFC Fourth Round in June 2012. The teams will be split into two groups of five teams. The top two teams in each of these groups will advance to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brasil. The two third-place teams will advance to a two-legged playoff for the right to take on the fifth-place team in CONMEBOL in a two-legged intercontinental playoff for a potential fifth Asian berth at Brasil 2014.

The teams have been split into five pots based upon the March 2012 FIFA rankings. One team from each pot will be drawn in Group One, and one team from each pot will be drawn into Group Two.

Pot A

1. Australia

2. South Korea

Pot B

3. Japan

4. Iran

Pot C

5. Uzbekistan

6. Iraq

Pot D

7. Jordan

8. Qatar

Pot E

9. Oman

10. Lebanon

This final group phase will consist of ten matchdays. Each team will play eight matches and have two matchdays off. The final matchday conflicts with the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brasil, so Japan will be assigned to the position in their group that guarantees that they will have the final matchday off. Japan will be at Brasil 2013 by virtue of their victory at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.