The Iraqis have not reached the World Cup finals since their sole appearance at Mexico in 1986, but despite being drawn in what is arguably the toughest of the third-round groups, which also includes Australia and Asian Games 2006 gold medallists Qatar, they remain confident of progressing to the next round.

"All the pundits have described our group as the 'Group of Death' because all the teams are big names in Asian football," said Iraq assistant coach Rahim Hamid.

"Hopefully we will win a ticket to the next round and we are optimistic we can do it because we beat Australia 3-1 in the Asian Cup last year and we also defeated Qatar 1-0 in the Gulf Cup, while China are not hard to beat."

The Iraqis claimed a 2-1 win over the Chinese in the United Arab Emirates during the qualifiers for the 2007 Asian Cup and are confident of emulating that result on Wednesday.

"We are hopeful that our players will continue their impressive recent performances and reflect the position that the Iraq national team have at the moment," added Hamid.

"We will try to take advantage of our preparation camp in UAE to prepare for our first match because it is an important game and we want to make a good start to the qualifiers."

Both teams easily progressed to the third round with Iraq recording a 7-0 aggregate triumph over Pakistan and China demolishing Myanmar 11-0 on aggregate.

Having replaced Zhu Guanghu after the team's dismal performance at the 2007 Asian Cup, China coach Vladimir Petrovic knows his team are in for a battle after watching Iraq defeat UAE in a friendly last week.

"After watching the friendly between Iraq and UAE, I can say that Iraq are a team with outstanding individual players who are very threatening," said the Serbian.

"Although it was just a friendly and Iraq may not have put 100% into it, I will have to get my players to try to control the midfield.

"The winner will be the side who are successful in the middle. It will be a tough match and we have to be prepared to fight until the final whistle."

Meanwhile, Qatar will be hoping to spring a surprise on Australia when they take on the Socceroos at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.

The Qataris advanced with a 6-0 aggregate triumph against Sri Lanka in the first round of the qualifiers, but will face a much sterner test against an Australian team which was unlucky to bow out to eventual winners Italy in the second round of the 2006 World Cup.

"The third stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers is completely different from the previous two rounds," said Qatar coach Jorge Fossati.

"Our road will not be easy because we have been drawn in a tough group.

"We must prepare very well for our matches and when there is big pressure, we prepare in a better way. Our chances are not so good, but we must prove to everyone that Qatar can qualify for the next round.

"Nothing is impossible in football.

"Our journey might be hard but we must put in all we can to turn our dream into reality. The most important thing for us is to qualify for the final round of the qualifiers."