Iran drawn in Group A of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Iranian men’s national football team has been drawn in Group A of the third round of the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA) World Cup qualification tournament, which is scheduled to start early September this year.

During the draw ceremony at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the Islamic Republic of Iran landed in Group A of the forthcoming sports event, and was pitted against South Korea, Uzbekistan, China, Qatar and Syria.

Asian powerhouse Japan was drawn in Group B, and joined Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Thailand.

The winner and runner-up of each group (four teams in total) will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while the third-placed teams of each group (two teams in total) will head to the play-off round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The winner of the Asian play-off round will then face twice the fourth-placed squad in the fifth round of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) qualifying games.

The national Iranian football team defeated Oman 2-0 in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on March 30 to advance to the final stage of 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Azmoun found the back of the net with two headers in the 16th and 23rd minutes.

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