The draw for the first and second rounds of Asian qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ has been held, throwing up a number of intriguing encounters.

Asian champions Iraq have been slotted against Pakistan and will play the first leg away, while Bahrain, who are ranked sixth and just after the top five who get byes into the third round, will square up against Malaysia.

Iraq won the AFC Asian Cup recently after defeating Saudi Arabia in Jakarta.

From the 19 teams that clear this round, the lowest eight based on ranking move on to the second round and the other 11 to round three. The five top seeds – Australia, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran – join the qualification process in the third round.

The first round home-and-away knockout round will take place on October 8 and October 28 while the second round is scheduled for November 9 and November 18.

The draw for the third round will take place in Durban, South Africa, on November 25, 2007.

The seedings:

1. Australia 2. Korea Republic 3. Saudi Arabia 4. Japan 5. IR. Iran 6. Bahrain 7. Uzbekistan 8. Kuwait 9. DPR Korea 10. China 11. Jordan 12. Iraq 13. Lebanon 14. Oman 15. UAE 16. Qatar 17. Syria 18. Palestine 19. Thailand 20. Turkmenistan 21. Tajikistan 22. Indonesia 23. Hong Kong 24. Yemen 25. Vietnam 26. Kyrgyzstan 27. Maldives 28. India 29. Singapore 30. Sri Lanka 31. Malaysia 32. Chinese Taipei 33. Bangladesh 34. Macau 35. Pakistan 36. Afghanistan 37. Mongolia 38. Guam 39. Nepal 40. Cambodia 41. Bhutan 42. Myanmar 43. Timor Leste

Teams ranked 1-5 receive a bye to the third round.

THE PAIRINGS FOR ROUND 1

1) Pakistan vs Iraq
2) Uzbekistan vs Chinese Taipei
3) Thailand vs Macau
4) Sri Lanka vs Qatar
5) China vs Myanmar
6) Bhutan vs Kuwait
7) Kyrgyzstan vs Jordan
8) Vietnam vs UAE
9) Bahrain vs Malaysia
10) Timor Leste vs Hong Kong
11) Syria vs Afghanistan
12) Yemen vs Maldives
13) Bangladesh vs Tajikistan
14) Mongolia vs DPR Korea
15) Oman vs Nepal
16) Palestine vs Singapore
17) Lebanon vs India
18) Cambodia vs Turkmenistan
19) Guam vs Indonesia

MATCH DAYS – 8 OCTOBER 2007 (home leg) AND 28 OCTOBER 2007 (away leg)

ROUND 2

1) Seed 17 vs Seed 14
2) Seed 16 vs Seed 12
3) Seed 19 vs Seed 15
4) Seed 18 vs Seed 13

MATCH DAYS – 9 NOVEMBER 2007 (home leg) AND 18 NOVEMBER 2007 (away leg)