India find themselves grouped with Qatar, Oman, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Group E...
India have been drawn in Group E alongside AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Asian Cup 2019 winners Qatar, Oman and neighbours Bangladesh and Afghanistan in round two of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The draw was held in Kuala Lampur on Wednesday and India's fate in the Round 2 of the qualifiers was revealed. The draw can be seen as mixed bags for the Blue Tigers who avoided the big guns from pots two, four and five but drew the defending Asian champions from pot 1.

The first match will be played on September 5 with the final matchday taking place on June 9, 2020. At the end of round two, the top sides from all eight groups including the four best runners-up will proceed to the third round of the World Cup qualifiers. Those 12 teams will also gain automatic qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

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The remaining four runners-up from the eight groups will gain a direct entry to the third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. The teams which finish third in their respective groups will also book a place in round three of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers along with the four best fourth-placed teams from all groups. The other four fourth-placed teams and all the sides which finish bottom of their tables will start their 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers from the play-off round.

Since Qatar are the host nation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, they gain automatic qualification and will not participate in the third round. Hence, if India finish second behind Qatar in Group E, they will advance to round three of the qualifiers as group winners.


FULL DRAW
Group A Group B Group C Group D
China Australia Iran Saudi Arabia
Syria Jordan Iraq Uzbekistan
Philippines Chinese Taipei Bahrain Palestine
Maldives Kuwait Hong Kong Yemen
Guam Nepal Cambodia Singapore


Group E Group F Group G Group H
Bangladesh Japan UAE South Korea
Oman Kyrgyz Republic Vietnam DPR Korea
India Tajikistan Thailand Lebanon
Afghanistan Myanmar Malaysia Turkmenistan
Qatar Mongolia Indonesia Sri Lanka