Saudi Arabia, UAE firm for 2015 Asian Cup

Three-time winner Saudi Arabia and 1996 finalist the UAE both have perfect records following the first three rounds of qualifying matches, and wins over Iraq and Hong Kong respectively in Friday’s (early Saturday AEDT) fourth round will clinch their places in next year’s draw.

Bahrain could also seal a spot amongst the 16 qualifiers with victory over Malaysia ahead of another home match against Yemen in Tuesday’s (Wednesday AEDT) fifth round.

Some teams will have to wait until the last round of qualifiers on March 5 to find out who joins already qualified Australia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea in the 2015 finals.

"The excitement is building as Australia's biggest ever football tournament comes into much sharper focus," said Michael Brown, CEO of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Local Organising Committee.

"Australian fans will soon have a very clear idea of which countries will fight out Asia's biggest sporting event, which is being held in Australia for the first time."

Of key interest to Australia's large Chinese population will be China's two home games - a must-win match against bottom-of-the-table Indonesia followed by a tough assignment against unbeaten Saudi Arabia.

Jordan's next two matches in Group A have been postponed until next year because of the Jordan v Uruguay playoffs to determine a Brazil 2014 World Cup spot. Current standings:

GROUP A

GROUP B

GROUP C

GROUP D

GROUP E