Bhutan have been handed a difficult group in their attempt to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after being paired with China, Hong Kong, Maldives and Qatar.
The remote Himalayan kingdom, which started the first round of qualifiers as the world’s worst team, according to Fifa rankings, battled past Sri Lanka over two legs to make it to the second round. Bhutan’s ranking has since risen from 209 to 163 but they will be up against it having been drawn in a difficult group with the world’s most populous nation and the 2022 World Cup hosts.
Elsewhere, the Asian champions Australia will face Jordan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh after the draw was made in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
South Korea, runners-up at this year’s Asian Cup, fared well, drawn in the same group as Kuwait, Lebanon, Burma and Laos. Japan were drawn in Group E with Syria, Afghanistan, Singapore and Cambodia, while Iran, Asia’s top-ranked country, ended up in Group D with Oman, India, Turkmenistan and Guam.
The 40 teams that made the second round were split into eight groups of five. Each country will play home and away against the other sides in their group. The second round starts in June and runs until March next year.
The eight group winners and the four best runners-up will advance to the next stage of World Cup qualifying in Asia. They will also qualify automatically for the 2019 Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates.
The teams that miss out will go into another phase of Asian Cup qualifiers.
