https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/3/27/iraq-team-to-play-international-football-matches-at-home

Yep in Basra in a 65,000 capacity stadium. Sounds like it will be pretty intimidating for us Aussies. Really hope we don't draw them

It's definitely getting harder in asia, we've been lucky that we've only had to play Iraq and Syria at neutral venues for so long

I think I remember reading that Iraq will be playing home games in Iraq (in a limited number of cities) starting with the upcoming qualifiers.

Same, but you have to pay $250 USD for everyday you spend there, though it does cover accommodation, food, transport and a guide.

I'd love an away trip to Bhutan.

I don't think Iraq would be so bad because they don't get a proper home game. China got through in second place last year with 2 draws and a loss. Kuwait would probably be the only away trip that would bother us from pots 4/5. The three pot 3 teams I could see possibly taking a point from us are Palestine, Thailand and N Korea (just purely because of the difficulty of the away leg conditions). Don't think it really matters with Pot 2 as even if we only get 3 points from the games against this team we are still going through. May be better to draw a middle Eastern team there as at least we are almost guaranteed 3 points at home.

Actually he just prefers rockets these days

Please Lord let us draw the winner of Bhutan and Guam. I wonder if we would send a HAL team or go for the American Samoa record.

Grand leader prefers basketball and ping pong 

What's happened to North Korea, I remember when we first joined Asia they were a force. Even gave Brazil a run for their money at the world cup. I'd really like to see them bounce back

I'd say the teams in pot 1 will be in pot 1 for a while. Those teams are shaping up to be the best 8 teams in the region with maybe Uzbekistan knocking at the door

My preference as an away tripper would be Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and any of the several ASEAN teams in Pot 5, but the chances of an all AFF group is minuscule.

Hoping for Oman, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Honda's Cambodia, but we'll get Iraq or Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Pakistan.

Only one East zone team in Pot 2, and it's Vietnam.

Apparently the April rankings will be used as they are prior to the first round, according to wiki.

That'll give us:

Pot 1:

1.  Iran (21)
2.  Japan (26)
3.  South Korea (37)
4.  Australia (41)
5.  Qatar (55)
6.  United Arab Emirates (67)
7.  Saudi Arabia (72)
8.  China PR (74)

Pot 2:

1.  Iraq (76)
2.  Syria (83)
3.  Uzbekistan (85)
4.  Lebanon (86)
5.  Oman (86)
6.  Kyrgyzstan (95)
7.  Jordan (97)
8.  Vietnam (98)

Pot 3:

1.  Palestine (99)
2.  India (101)
3.  Bahrain (111)
4.  Thailand (114)
5.  Tajikistan (120)
6.  North Korea (121)
7.  Philippines (124)
8.  Chinese Taipei (125)

Pot 4:

1.  Turkmenistan (136)
2.  Myanmar (140)
3.  Hong Kong (141)
4.  Yemen (146)
5.  Afghanistan (149)
6.  Maldives (151)
7.  Kuwait (156)
8.  Indonesia (159)

Pot 5:

1.  Singapore (160)
2.    Nepal (161)

and six from the following:

35.  Malaysia (168)
36.  Cambodia (173)
37.  Macau (183)
38.  Laos (184)
39.  Bhutan (186)
40.  Mongolia (187)
41.  Bangladesh (188)
42.  Guam (193)
43.  Brunei (194)
44.  Timor-Leste (195)
45.  Pakistan (200)
46.  Sri Lanka (202)

lolol that gave me a chuckle.

I'm sure China will be perfectly adequate hosts and will use it as a platform for a certain future World Cup bid, but at the moment all their biggest stadiums are athletic grounds, and with the exception of the brilliant Bird's Nest from the Beijing Olympics a lot of them seem a little dated.

Surely though if anyone can chuck up a few new rectangular stadia in four years it's China, especially with their government's focus on football. Perhaps there'll be some announcements when they get confirmed as hosts.

I would definitely still go, either way.

Just bumping this up. I think June will see one more ranking calculation before the draw? The pots might not change much. 

It's all starting up again! Really hope we get some interesting destinations and can avoid the Middle East. Not to say ASEAN will be any easier. Vietnam will be a massive task. 

Good spot, it'd be against the second lowest pot for that second matchday too, if it stays the same.

MD3 would be at home to the lowest pot, and MD4 away to the third pot in October.

In November we'll we away to the second pot on MD5 and have the bye again in MD6, so if we don't have nine points by the end of October at least we'll have time to look for a new coach before MD7 and 8 in March.

I think China is a better host. We’ve been to Korea and Japan before - now AFL have introduced western sport to the People’s Republic its time to see if they will take to the round ball game 

If the 2018 qualifiers format is repeated Australia and the 7 other Pot 1 teams will have a bye for MD1 on Sep 5 and play away on MD2 on Sep 10. 

MS3 and MD4 in October would be home and away respectively.

China was inevitable I guess. Korea or Japan would have been nicer. 

The draw for the second round of AFC qualifiers will be held on 17th of July, I don't think it's been posted elsewhere.

The first matchday for us is the 5th of September. The first round legs are on the 6th and 11th of June.

China (the only remaining bidder) should be confirmed as the host of the 2023 Asian Cup on Tuesday (4th of June) ahead of the FIFA Congress in Paris.

Tony Vidmar will join the coaching staff.

I’d be going with
                     Langerak
Grant    Spiranovic    Wright      Behich
              Antonis        O’Neill 
Borello              Ikon                  Mabil
                       Taggart 


i have have always loved borello so he’s in for me. That front 4 is super mobile. At least we will be sharp and quick. Antonis deserves it as does O’neill and I think Wright and spira are the best defenders in the squad.
The fullbacks pick themselves and so does the keeer. 

Considering the inexperience of the squad, and the genuine quality of the opposition we struggle to beat even with our A team, I’d be starting the match with the most experienced possible XI, and then sub on 6 newbies. 

Based on the squad how does everyone think we'll line up?

Although unlikely, I'd like to see

I don't think dimi has done enough but keen to see the others especially ryan 

Dave Lewis from TWG wrote an article suggesting Arnie may have to cap 16yo Alex Robertson just to entice him away from England.... can't see it happening.

According to various articles around the place, today we can expect these 9 players to be called up for the Korea friendly:
*Brad Smith
*Ryan Williams 
*Andrew Redmayne
*Brandon O’Neill
*Craig Goodwin
*Dimi Petratos
*Thomas Deng
*Nathaniel Atkinson
*Riley McGree

I wonder who the remaining 14 will be 🤔 

Plans for a 48 team world cup in Qatar seem to have been abandoned. We're in a bit of a hole with qualifying again but I still think we had some decent moments at the Asian Cup that we can build on. Effective use of each player in building a proper team should be enough.

The decent group of Olyroos also offers some excitement. 

So according to reports only Behich has put his hand up for the friendly. The rest will be made up of mostly A League and Asian based players. I look forward to seeing a lot of news faces get some exposure to the national team set up.