ZURICH, April 17: The draw for the first phase of Asia�s qualifying round for the World Cup in 2022 was made on Wednesday, featuring the continent�s lowest ranked nations.
FIFA is still not clear as to how many teams will participate in the tournament with president Gianni Infantino keen on his plan to expand the tournament from 32 to 48 teams.
Infantino also wants to potentially share the hosting duties originally awarded to Qatar with other nations in the Middle East.
Oman and Kuwait are the other likely candidates who want to host the showpiece event and a decision will be made at the FIFA congress in Paris on June 5 over the final number of participants and format of the competition.
Despite the uncertainty, Asian football officials conducted the draw for the first round of the continent�s qualifying tournament.
The draw featured the region�s 12 lowest ranked national teams.
Guam will take on Bhutan, while Pakistan are slated to meet Cambodia.
AFC Round 1 draw:
Mongolia vs Brunei-Darussalam; Macau vs Sri Lanka; Laos vs Bangladesh; Malaysia vs Timor-Leste; Cambodia vs Pakistan; Bhutan vs Guam. � IANS
