India face Lebanon in World Cup qualifiers first round on Oct 8

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 6 (UNI) India has a tough task ahead as it faces Lebanon on October 8 in the first round of regional qualifiers for the 2010 football World Cup, according to the draw here today.

Lebanon is ranked 135th in the latest FIFA chart, while India is languishing at 162nd spot.

Meanwhile, India's neighbours Pakistan have been paired with newly crowned Asian champions Iraq.

The AFC also announced the pairings for the second round knock-out competitions to be played on November 9 and 18. It said countries in conflict zones -- Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly Palestine -- would be asked to designate their home venues. For the Asian Cup qualifiers, Iraq played their home matches in Jordan.

All countries except top five Asian countries -- Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran -- will feature in one home and away first round knock-out matches on October 8 and 28 against their respective opponent drawn by pair.

Fourty-three teams will take part in the World Cup qualification for 4.5 Asian quota place. The top five Asian countries, based on performances at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, have been excluded from the first two knockout stages and given direct entry to third round.

Teams ranked sixth to 43rd are paired by draw for the one home-and-away knock-out first round. Of the 19 first-round winners, the highest eight in rankings join the top five in third round. The lowest eight move to second round where they are again paired by draw to play one home and away knock-out competition and from there four teams progress to the third round.

In round three, the 20 teams are split into five groups of four teams, with the top two in each group advancing to the fourth round comprising two groups of five teams.

The top two teams from each group after the fourth round qualify for the World Cup, with the third-placed teams facing each other in a play-off and the winner meeting the Oceania Football Confederation representative for a place in South Africa.

Round Three is to be played from February 6 to September 10, 2008 while Round Four is scheduled from October 15, 2008 to September 9, 2009.

The AFC play-off is scheduled for October 10 and 14, 2009, while the AFC/OFC play-off will be held on November 14 and 21, 2009.

AFC World Cup qualifying first-round draw. (AFC ranking in brackets): Pakistan (35) v Iraq (12); Uzbekistan (7) v Taiwan (32); Thailand (19) v Macau (34); Sri Lanka (30) v Qatar (16); China (10) v Myanmar (42); Bhutan (41) v Kuwait (8); Kyrgystan (26) v Jordan (11); Vietnam (25) v United Arab Emirates (15); Bahrain (6) v Malaysia (31); East Timor (43) v Hong Kong (23); Syria (17) v Afghanistan (36); Yemen (25) v Maldives (27); Bangladesh (33) v Tajikistan (21); Mongolia (37) v North Korea (9); Oman (14) v Nepal (39); Palestine (18) v Singapore (29); Lebanon (13) v India (28); Cambodia (40) v Turkmenistan (20); Guam (38) v Indonesia (22).

Round two: (Here seed is according to ranking of the team out of the 19 who go through Round One) Seed 17 vs Seed 14; Seed 16 vs Seed 12; Seed 19 vs Seed 15; Seed 18 vs Seed 13.

UNI