IRI scales up FIFA seeding table

IRIB - FIFA has changed the seedings of the top-five Asian teams for the preliminary draw of the 2010 world cup which takes place this month, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said Sunday.

Australia retains top ranking, followed by Korea Republic, but I. R of Iran has moved up from fifth to third seed, while Saudi Arabia and Japan will now be joint fourth seeds, it said.

"The new seedings reflect the results of the teams in the 2006 FIFA world cup in Germany," the AFC said.

The preliminary draw is to take place in Durban, South Africa, on November 25.

The Asian qualification campaign for the 2010 world cup is currently under way with one round completed.

The AFC said that the top 11 seeds who cleared the first round have received a direct bye into the third round, while the bottom eight seeds are engaged in a home-and-away elimination round two.

Round three, which starts on February 6, 2008, will see eleven qualifiers from round one and four qualifiers from round two join the top five seeds.

These 20 teams will be split into five groups of four, with the first and second in each group qualifying for places in round four, the final round.

In the final round, the ten remaining teams will be split into two groups of five, with the top two in each group qualifying automatically for the 2010 FIFA world cup finals in South Africa.

The previous seedings were: 1) Australia, 2) Korea Republic, 3) Saudi Arabia, 4) Japan and 5) I.R. of Iran.

The new seedings are: 1) Australia, 2) Korea Republic, 3) I.R. of Iran, 4) Saudi Arabia and Japan (tied fourth).