AFC have announced the draw for the 4th round will also be based on the FIFA rankings.
2014 F1FA World Cup Brazil™ - Asian Qualifiers Round 4 - Draw
The Committee decided to take the latest FIFA/Coca Cola rankings at the time of the Draw for Round 4 as F1FA Ranking has already been implemented for Round 3.
Yes, it's F1FA, not FIFA :)
The last match day of round 3 takes place on February 29, while the first match day of round 4 is scheduled for June 3.
I think the draw will take place in March, using the March FIFA ranking that will be released based on my calculations on March 15.
4 years ago, the 4 lowest seeded teams of the 10 qualified for the 4th round were placed in a single pot.
Here's the March 2012 FIFA ranking, counting scheduled games as defeats:
| 1 | Australia | 753 |
| 2 | Japan | 694 |
| 3 | Korea Republic | 619 |
| 4 | Iran | 510 |
| 5 | China PR | 418 |
| 6 | Jordan | 401 |
| 7 | Uzbekistan | 393 |
| 8 | Iraq | 355 |
| 9 | Kuwait | 349 |
| 10 | Qatar | 331 |
| 11 | Saudi Arabia | 318 |
| 12 | Bahrain | 305 |
| 13 | Oman | 280 |
| 14 | Thailand | 234 |
| 15 | United Arab Emirates | 208 |
| 16 | Korea DPR | 203 |
| 17 | Tajikistan | 195 |
| 18 | Indonesia | 159 |
| 19 | Singapore | 148 |
| 20 | Lebanon | 122 |
Pot 1: Australia, Japan
Pot 2: Korea Republic, Iran
Pot 3: China PR, Jordan
Pot 4: Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Is there any way australia could drop to 3rd in AFC (and Pot 2) so miss out on "position 1" in the draw ? Position 1 would presumably get a bye in the first round of matches (3rd June on the AFC Calendar). Australia has just scheduled a friendly against Denmark on 2nd June in Copenhagen. your answer may make our FFA look either Dumb, or Arrogant, or Lucky, or maybe they've even asked the AFC (or Clever).
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure there's no way.
ReplyDelete