According to reporter Ma Dexing, the AFC has decided that the grouping of the 2024 Qatar Asian Cup is directly determined by the FIFA ranking, and the national football team, currently ranked 11th in Asia, has been determined to enter the second gear, while the third gear team includes Syria and Vietnam, and the fourth gear team is Tajikistan and Thailand, and the national football team may enter the death group.
Previously, there were two opinions within the AFC on the classification, one of which was that according to the batch that entered the final round, the first batch of teams to enter the final round of 12 were listed as seeded teams and second bracket teams, and the rest of the teams that advanced through the Asian preliminary round entered the third and fourth brackets. Secondly, it is directly determined according to the FIFA ranking.
In the end, the second opinion prevailed, so the FIFA ranking on April 6 will determine the final binning. After the two warm-up matches between the national football team and New Zealand in March, FIFA points fell sharply, but it still ranked 11th in Asia and was confirmed to enter the second gear.
The teams in the same second bracket also include Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Uzbekistan and Jordan, while the seeded teams, in addition to the host Qatar, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia, the top 5 teams in Asia, are all unreachable opponents of the national football team.
The three teams include Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon, while the fourth team is India, Tajikistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
The draw will take place on May 11 in Doha, Qatar, and in addition to the seeded teams that are bound to meet strong teams, the national football team will enter the group of death once it draws strong opponents in the third and fourth brackets.