Advertisement

UAE to be top seed for 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup

UAE to be top seed for 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup

The UAE are guaranteed to be a top seed for Tuesday’s 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian Cup second-round qualification draw after retaining their spot as the continent’s fifth-best side in the latest FIFA rankings.

- #Quiz360: WIN a group paintball session at Zayed Sports City
- Other teams treat Al Ain game like a final - Zlatko Dalic
- AGL preview: Sharjah and Ajman clash, Al Dhafra face Kalba

The Whites moved up one spot to 68th in the list – which was released on Thursday – despite declining to play in last month’s international window.

This saw them safely inside the top eight nations in Asia, meaning they will go into the pot to head one of Groups A-H during the ceremony at JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur at 17:00 (13:00 UAE).

Mahdi Ali’s men enter at the second stage, where they will be drawn against teams ranked 1-34 in Asia and six first-round winners from the countries ranked 35–46.

Each group will contain five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches.

The eight group winners and four best runners up advance to third round and qualify for the next Asian Cup, a competition the UAE will host.

The top two teams from the two groups will automatically be granted entry to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, with a fourth round featuring a play-off between the two third-placed teams of each groups to go into a two-legged inter-confederation showdown a possibility depending upon the Asian Football Confederation’s allocation.

The Whites have only ever made it to the World Cup finals once before, losing all three Group D matches in Italy 25 years ago against eventual winners West Germany.


Related Links