AFC Round Three Draw

Australia were the top seed coming into the draw, but they left with the toughest group of any of the top five Asian countries. Group E will certainly put southwest Asian braggin rights on the line and will have the least travel time required for its contestants. South Korea appear to have been given the easiest route to round four, but none of these labels matter once the games begin.

The numbers are the teams' current ELO ratings.

Group A:
36 Australia
62 China
51 Iraq
88 Qatar

Group B:
23 Japan
96 Bahrain
70 Oman
105 Thailand

Group C:
47 South Korea
82 North Korea
86 Jordan
111 Turkmenistan

Group D:
42 Saudi Arabia
61 Uzbekistan
123 Lebanon
114 Singapore

Group E:
28 Iran
94 Kuwait
97 United Arab Emirates
80 Syria

Who do I believe will come through? Australia and Iraq, Japan and Oman, South Korea and North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, and Iran and the United Arab Emirates are my picks.

Round three match days:
February 6, 2008
March 26, 2008
August 20, 2008
October 11, 2008
October 15, 2008
November 19, 2008