AUSTRALIA and South Korea have been named the top two seeds in the draw for the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
The seedings for the draw, which will be held on Friday at AFC House, were finalised on Sunday when Qatar and United Arab Emirates secured the last two berths in the final round.
The two Gulf sides will find themselves as the lowest ranked teams in the draw with seedings based on the performance of teams in the 2006 World Cup finals and qualifiers.
The 10 teams will be placed into four separate pots for the draw with Australia, who reached the second round in Germany, and South Korea, who missed out on the knockout stage after managing a win, a draw and a loss, in the top tier.
Iran are in the second pot and will be paired with either Japan or Saudi Arabia, who will be separated by another draw into either pot two or three.
Bahrain, who were eliminated from the 2006 World Cup after losing a qualifying play-off to Trinidad and Tobago, will join either the Japanese or Saudis in pot three.
The remaining sides - Uzbekistan, North Korea, UAE and Qatar - are in pot four.
The 10 teams will be divided into two groups of five for the final round, which will begin on September 6 and conclude on June 17, 2009.
The top two sides in each group will advance directly to South Africa while the two second-placed sides will go into a play-off for one more spot at the 2010 World Cup.
The two Gulf sides will find themselves as the lowest ranked teams in the draw with seedings based on the performance of teams in the 2006 World Cup finals and qualifiers.
The 10 teams will be placed into four separate pots for the draw with Australia, who reached the second round in Germany, and South Korea, who missed out on the knockout stage after managing a win, a draw and a loss, in the top tier.
Iran are in the second pot and will be paired with either Japan or Saudi Arabia, who will be separated by another draw into either pot two or three.
Bahrain, who were eliminated from the 2006 World Cup after losing a qualifying play-off to Trinidad and Tobago, will join either the Japanese or Saudis in pot three.
The remaining sides - Uzbekistan, North Korea, UAE and Qatar - are in pot four.
The 10 teams will be divided into two groups of five for the final round, which will begin on September 6 and conclude on June 17, 2009.
The top two sides in each group will advance directly to South Africa while the two second-placed sides will go into a play-off for one more spot at the 2010 World Cup.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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