Camp in the UAE for the first half of the window, pop over to Saudi for an exhibition match (using the American term as I certainly don't want to call anything to do with Saudi friendly) back to camp in the UAE then over to Kuwait for the match, sounds sensible to me.

Maybe the FFA would cheap out and only call up players directly for the 2nd matchday, who knows.

Has Muscat got a gig around there yet?
Even then would it factor in as a cost FFA would be willing to pay. 

I wouldn't mind getting a practice match in on September 5 but all other pot 1 teams will be travelling and too preoccupied. The only team is perhaps Saudi who aren't too far away. I assume we'll be in Kuwait itself for prep or might do another UAE camp. A practice game against a UAE club would be good. 

The link 404'd for me.

FIFA have barred Qatar from competing in the third round of 2022 FIFA World Cup - Asian qualifiers if they finish among the top 12 teams in the event that occurs the 5th best ranked runner up to advance to the next stage.

https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/204-member-associations-in-contention-for-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022tm-berth

nevermind i found the confirmation in this article

http://www.the-afc.com/asiancup/news/australia-s-arnold-pleased-with-draw

Has this actually been confirmed ?  Do you have a source ?

There were previously reports that Qatar could choose to take part in the 3rd stage if they qualified - even though in my opinion this would be unfair to the other 11 teams even if Qatar did not play for points.

Yes, that is correct.

Does this mean Qatar won't play in the third round (top 20) no matter what, and they are only in this round for Asian Cup qualification?

It hasn't been mentioned in discussion yet but if Qatar finish top two in their group (almost a certainty) then the 5th best second placed team will also go through. 

It's scarily sad how real this sounds.

+1

I think Melbourne will get the Kuwait game at aami 

It will be interesting to see how the West Asian teams perform across the board.

I imagine they will come out firing but they will be under extra expectation and scrutiny from their media/society due to Qatar hosting.

Kuwait - absorb their initial intensity then crush and discard 

I'm so fucking sick of playing Jordan. 

That East Asia cup was a bit farcical to watch though (both the qualifiers and the tournament). It looked like no one was taking it seriously. All the "good" countries sent c squads. I remember Ange questioning what the point of it was on fox sports. I don't think we would have gone back even if we got invited again. 

Match Schedule:
Kuwait v Australia – Tuesday September 10th 2019
Australia v Nepal – Thursday October 10th 2019
Chinese Taipei – Tuesday October 15th 2019 
Jordan v Australia – Thursday November 14th 2019 
Australia v Kuwait – Thursday March 26th 2020 
Nepal v Australia – Tuesday March 31st 2020 
Australia v Chinese Taipei – Thursday June 4th 2020 
Australia v Jordan – Tuesday June 9th 2020 

All kick-off times and match venues are yet to be confirmed. 

Match schedule is based off current FIFA calendar & AFC competition scheduling.

Asian Football Confederation deadline to nominate match venues is three months out before the match, so that'll give you a bit of an indication.

Yeah playing in the Middle East is tough for us but equally the Middle Eastern teams struggle in Oz. The two Middle Eastern games are the problem for us but my point is that the other 6 games are practically certain wins for us and 18 points and 2nd place gets you through. 16 points and 2nd place may get you through. Even if we lost the 2 Middle Eastern games and drew with Jordan at home (which isn't going to happen) we may still go through with 16 points. it is a good enough draw for us.

Kinda flies in the face of your suggestion to send a B team to the far more august Copa America, doesn't it?

East Asia Cup. Which we've only been invited too once. 

We scraped past Hong Kong 1-0. Then destroyed Guam 9-0 and Beat Taiwan 8-0 with yes, essentially a virgin squad B team. 

We then drew to Good Korea 0-0, lost 3-2 to Japan and then lost 4-3 to China, finished last in Round 2, was therefore knocked out, and was never invited back to compete. 

Whilst I would love for us to be invited back time and time again (same goes with the ASEAN Cup - as we're specifically a member) we haven't been invited back to those competitions purely because we sent a B/C squad and didn't take it seriously and offended a few people in the process. 

8-0. In a comp that introduced A-League players Mooy, Ryan, Rogic and Behich to the Socceroos, providing their platform for their latter careers.

Clearly a waste of time. Glad we never went back to it. /s

Surely there is a chance of some football records being broken in these qualifiers:
South Korean vs Sri Lanka (who probably shouldnt have qualified), Japan vs Mongolia and Qatar vs Bangladesh.
Didnt we beat Taiwan like 11-0 a few years back in one of the regional tournaments and we effectively took a B team?

We haven't even talked about Saudi v Yemen yet lol

It doesn't matter than Jordan don't have no stars. Currently, they're just one of the better Middle Eastern teams, that we traditionally struggle against. On paper, we shouldn't be struggling against anyone from  Asia, with maybe the exception being Japan and South Korea. The problem is our players just arrive in the Middle East and struggle in the conditions. Other teams don't have the majority of players playing in a cold European winter, only to be suddenly plucked out into 35-40 degree desert heat with unfamiliar sounds, smells and sounds. We struggle with the totally unfamiliar alien environment that is the middle east. We have done since 2006. We've always struggled in the Middle East, to Middle Eastern teams. That's why we've dropped points against nations like Qatar, Jordan, Syria on so many occasions. We just don't do the Middle East. And until we do, we're going to continue to struggle. Even players that go over there for the oil money struggle to last out 12 months. There's more to that than just the conditions and oppressive cultures, but it's still a factor. 

I hope you have something wood to touch after you said that. Far out.

Jordan have no stars. They're a team of battlers. Syria and Uzbekistan have better players and playing Iraq in Iraq would be terrifying. It is not the very best draw but it is good enough for us to be through. As far as I'm concerned we are through to the next stage.

It just doesn't work that all the pot 2 teams will belt the pot 3/4/5 teams. We can do it because we have European players but the likes of Oman, Lebanon, Kygyzstan and Vietnam can't do that. They will have to battle out every game. If you look at the same stage last WC in the rankings of the 2nd place teams North Korea missed on 16 points and China went through on 17 points. With the lower pot teams becoming more completive over the last 4 years I expect 2nd place and 16 points to get you through this time. 18 points and you are a certainty through.

This is a good enough draw that we are a certainty to go through. Really beating Jordan at home is a certainty so we could lose to both Jordan and Kuwait away and still go through. It is a non event.

We're definitely still better than anyone else in the group. I don't feel we'll lose to Jordan forever. This is the perfect opportunity to break the sequence and show we've learned something from our past disappointments in the Middle East. 

The problem isn't necessarily the teams. The problem is the Middle East. It's always, the fucking Middle East. 

I don't want anyone to think I'm not supporting our national team or being cynical, and I'll be there on hopefully at least two away trips to prove that, but I think some people still haven't grasped the challenge that lies ahead.