Excitement builds ahead of Wednesday's second round draw

The attention will be on the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as the 34 nations who earned their places automatically for the second round, will be joined by the six winners from the first round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Joint Qualifiers.

Asia’s five representatives at the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 – Australia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia as well as AFC Asian Cup reigning champions Qatar have all confirmed their spots in Pot 1 after sealing their places among Asia’s top eight in the June 14, 2019, FIFA World Ranking.

In the last edition of the Asian Qualifiers, Asia’s emerging sides - India and Yemen -progressed from the first round to the Continent’s ultimate stage in the UAE earlier this year.

Hoping to emulate their success in this edition are Mongolia who qualified for the second round for the first time in their history.

Likewise, Sri Lanka, who last competed in the second round in 2004 as well as Indonesia and Nepal, who return after nearly eight years, will also be eyeing a similar inspiring run against some of Asia’s powerhouses.

For the full details on the draw mechanics, please click here. Catch the special preview programme here and all the action from the draw ‘live’ (in selected territories) at 5:30pm local time (GMT+8).