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.

Few qualifiers in history have produced the drama seen in the World Cup qualifying play-off between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in September 2009, where it took until the final seconds to decide the final Asian playoff.

Entering the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers for the first time, Central Asian rivals Uzbekistan and Tajikistan played out a remarkable two-legged affair in 1996, with the White Wolves pulling off an incredible comeback to qualify 5-4 on aggregate after being 4-0 down.

We kick off by recalling the epic FIFA World Cup France 1998 qualifying playoff between Japan and Islamic Republic of Iran, which sent the Samurai Blue to the Finals for the first time in their history.

Dutchman van Marwijk, who replaced Italian Alberto Zaccheroni last March, gathered his team in Munich, Germany before travelling to Salzburg where the team will spend a week before returning to Dubai on July 22.

UAE, who are among the 34 teams to have received a bye into the second round of the Asian Qualifiers, will begin their campaign on September 5 with their second match five days later.

The East Asians saw off a strong challenge from Brunei, who had drawn level 2-2 on aggregate by the end of the first half at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

Mongolian captain Norjmoo Tsedenbal, however, had the final say as he struck a penalty two minutes into the second half to ensure his team advanced to the second round for the first time in their history.

Guam defeated Bhutan 5-0 to advance 5-1 on aggregate with skipper Cunliffe scoring in the 26th, 81st and added time. Guam's other scorers were Isiah Kazunori Kimura Lagutang (23rd) and Shane Malcolm (51st) as Guam comfortably overcame the one-goal deficit at the Guam FA Field.