Draw featur­es region's 12 lowest ranked nation­al teamsHONG KONG: The draw for the first phase of Asia’s qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup finals featuring the continent’s lowest-ranked nations was made on Wednesday, even though FIFA has yet to decide how many teams will participate in the tournament. Despite the uncertainty, Asian football officials conducted the draw for the first round of the continent’s qualifying tournament, which features the region’s 12 lowest ranked national teams. Malaysia will play fellow South East Asians East Timor while Laos take on Bangladesh, Macau face Sri Lanka and Brunei face off against Mongolia. The winners of the two-legged ties, which will be played on June 6 with the return on June 11, will advance to the next phase of the competition, which will be determined at the official draw for the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar in July. 2022 World Cup First Round Draw: Mongolia v Brunei Darussalam; Macau v Sri Lanka; Laos v Bangladesh; Malaysia v Timor-Leste; Cambodia v Pakistan; Bhutan v Guam.

Source: The Express Tribune April 17, 2019 03:56 UTC