The third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia will take place from September 2, 2021 to March 29, 2022 with the participation of 12 teams, divided into 2 groups. Group A includes Iran, South Korea, Iraq, UAE, Syria and Lebanon
The teams will compete in a home format, with a total of 10 matches. The top two teams will qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The 3rd place team will play the play-off with the 3rd place team of Group B, where the Vietnamese team will participate. The winning team will play against another continental team to compete for a ticket to the World Cup.
In this group, Iran is considered the top team. They will have the opening match of their ticket campaign to the World Cup with a home match against Syria. In history, Iran has participated in the World Cup 5 times, while Syria has not participated in this playground. Compared to Iran, Syria is inferior in every aspect and has had many changes on the coaching bench over the past time.
The Korean team, Park Hang-seo's hometown team, will meet Iraq at home. This will be a match that promises many difficulties for Son Heung-min and his teammates, because Iraq is a team with strength. The Iraq team has recently appointed Mr. Dick Advocaat as head coach. Mr. Advocaat used to lead the Korean team, so he is not a stranger to Korean football.
In the remaining match, the UAE team - the same group as the Vietnam team in phase 2 will meet Lebanon at home. The UAE team has prepared very carefully for the matches of phase 3, with the goal of winning a ticket to the World Cup for the first time since 1990. Compared to the UAE, Lebanon is considered underrated and does not have a series of players due to injuries and COVID-19.
Schedule of the first round of matches in Group A of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers (Vietnam time)
September 2
6:00 p.m.: South Korea - Iraq
23:00: Iran - Syria
23:45: UAE - Lebanon
