Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuala Lumpur: The draw mechanism for the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 to be held at the Sydney Opera House on March 26 has been announced.
The draw for the 16 team-tournament, will feature 15 confirmed sides, with the winner of the AFC Challenge Cup 2014, which takes place in the Maldives in May, making up the final participant.
The teams who booked their place in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 draw via the qualifying campaign are: Oman, Bahrain, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia (all group winners) Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Iraq (all group runners-up) and China, who emerged as the best third-place finisher amongst the five groups.
Defending champions Japan, Asian Cup 2015 hosts Australia, and Korea Republic received direct entry to the finals by finishing first, second and third respectively at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, while DPR Korea sealed their place courtesy of victory in the AFC Challenge Cup 2012.
The 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four teams, with each group playing a one-round league.
There will be four country pots with hosts Australia occupying the A1 position of Pot 1 and the rest of the countries getting their respective positions based on FIFA Ranking announced on 13 March 2014.
The first four top-rank countries will be slotted in Pot 1 and the rest will be slotted in Pot 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
The seedings are as follows:
Pot 1 (teams ranked 1-4): Australia, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan
Pot 2 (teams ranked 5-8): Korea Republic, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Pot 3 (teams ranked 9-12): Oman, China, Qatar, Iraq
Pot 4 (teams ranked 13-16): Bahrain, Kuwait, DPR Korea and Challenge Cup 2014 winners.