SEOUL-- South Korea will take on pesky rivals Iran in the next qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The draw for the final round in the Asian qualifying for the 2022 World Cup took place Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A dozen teams were paired into two groups of six, and each group contained one team from each of the six pots, which were determined by the special FIFA seedings for Asia released on June 18.
South Korea, world No. 39, will be in Group A with Iran (31st), Iraq (68th), the United Arab Emirates (73rd), Syria (79th) and Lebanon (93rd).
Group B countries are: Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, Oman and Vietnam.
The final round, pushed back by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will run from September this year to March next year. South Korea's first match will be Sept. 2 against Iraq.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the World Cup. The two third-place countries will compete in a one-and-done playoff match next May or June. The winner will then move on to the intercontinental playoffs against a team from a confederation to be determined later.
South Korea have played at every World Cup since 1986, including as a co-host with Japan in 2002.
Coached by Paulo Bento, South Korea have a 9-9-13 (wins-draws-losses) record against Iran, including four losses and two draws in their past six meetings.
South Korea have gone 12-5-2 against the UAE, 7-11-2 against Iraq, 4-3-1 against Syria and 10-3-1 against Lebanon.
Source: Yonhap News Agency