Following an assessment of the ongoing security situations in Iraq and Syria and in light of the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and China PR respectively, it was decided that the upcoming home matches involving the four nations will be held at neutral venues as part of the AFC’s efforts to ensure the highest safety standards and optimum playing conditions for all stakeholders.

With four direct qualification spots up for grabs, and the continent’s top players and coaches going all out to turn their dreams into reality, join us as we preview the contenders.

Here we examine Australia, the now-habitual FIFA World Cup participants who overcame a range of difficulties to establish a perfect record in their qualifying campaign thus far, but who will need to stare down all new challenges in order to keep it.

The-AFC.com dives deep into the 12 nations who will be taking part in the upcoming festival of football assessing and analysing the key men, highlighting the history, and giving a general insight into the teams battling out for a place at Qatar 2022.

Perennial powerhouse Korea Republic will not just be hoping for, but expecting qualification to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with a track record at the Asian Qualifiers that bears testament to that confidence.

Over the coming days, the-AFC.com will break down each of the 12 nations still standing, their key men and what it all means in the context of history as they vie for a ticket to the greatest show on earth.

A true powerhouse of the Asian game, Islamic Republic of Iran are targeting a third successive FIFA World Cup appearance and their exceptional strike force makes them one of the favourites to qualify.

While AFC Asian Cup holders Qatar have already claimed a place as the FIFA World Cup hosts, the top two nations in each of the continent’s two qualifying groups will also advance to the Finals while the third-placed finishers will enter into a playoff to potentially claim a further spot for Asia.

Here we take a look at the prospects of Japan, the top seeds in Group B and habitual qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup.

The hosts looked set for a comprehensive win when Kaluđerović added to Marko Stanojević’s superb opener to make it 2-0 before half-time, but Ahal came storming back into the match with two Elman Tagayev goals in the space of nine second-half minutes.

A successfully converted 76th-minute penalty kick from Nasaf youngster Khusain Norchaev finally settled the tie in favour of the Uzbekistan Super League outfit, maintaining their perfect record in this year’s competition and keeping alive their bid to add to the AFC Cup title they won in 2011.

There was debut delight for Eldor Shomurodov, Kim Min-jae and Mana Iwabuchi as well as a goalkeeping masterclass from Amir Abedzadeh, while several players left their mark on the continental stage in Europe.

But which of Asia’s stars shone brightest of all? Study our shortlist – based on performances in competitive matches from August 18 to 24 – and don’t forget to register your vote.