UAE drawn in Group G, take on Malaysia first

Dubai - The draw for the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 Fifa World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup was held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday

The UAE's road to the next World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup begins with their opening fixture against Malaysia in September.
The draw for the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 Fifa World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup was held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday and the UAE were drawn in Group G.
The UAE, who made their only appearance at a World Cup in Italy in 1990, were pooled with Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The UAE will begin their campaign with an away game against Malaysia on September 10 with their second fixture to be played at home against Indonesia on October 10.
They then have a quick turnaround where they will travel to Bangkok to face Thailand on October 15. The UAE then play Vietnam on November 14.
They then play the return leg against Malaysia at home on March 26 before making the trip to Jakarta to take on Indonesia on March 31.
The UAE's final two fixtures of the second round are at home to Thailand and Vietnam on June 4 and June 9 respectively.
Forty teams were drawn in eight groups of five, with the top team in each group progressing to the next phase along with the four best runners-up.
Those 12 teams will then be divided into two groups of six and they will fight for the four berths and one play-off spot allocated for Asia at the 2022 World Cup.
james@khaleejtimes.com
 
GROUPINGS:
Group A: China, Syria, Philippines, Maldives, Guam
Group B: Australia, Jordan, Taiwan, Kuwait, Nepal
Group C: Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Cambodia
Group D: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Yemen, Singapore
Group E: Bangladesh, Oman, India, Afghanistan, Qatar
Group F: Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Mongolia
Group G: United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
Group H: South Korea, Lebanon, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka