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Mehr News - Draw for the preliminary qualification round for the 2006 World Cup made in Frankfurt, Germany, Friday: ASIAN ZONE: Group 1 Iran, Qatar, Jordan, Laos Group 2 Uzbekistan, Iraq, Palestine, Taiwan Group 3 Japan, Oman, India, Singapore Group 4 China, Kuwait, Malaysia, Hong Kong Group 5 United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Yemen, North Korea Group 6 Bahrain, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan Group 7 South Korea, Lebanon, Vietnam, Maldives Group 8 Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka Qualifiers: Four and one team into playoffs Eight winners from the first phase qualify for second phase, with two groups of four. Top two in each group qualify for World Cup finals in Germany. Third-placed groups in each group play off over two legs and the winner plays off against fourth-placed team from North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region. Seven teams have already been eliminated in a preliminary round: Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Macao, Pakistan, Mongolia, Guam, and Nepal OCEANIA ZONE: Group 1 Tahiti, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga, Cook Islands Group 2 Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, American Samoa Qualifiers: One team into playoff against fifth-placed team in South American qualifying The first two from each group qualify for six-team tournament which includes Australia and New Zealand, which are exempt from the first round. The first two in this group play off in two-legged tie in September 2005, with the winner going on to play the fifth-placed team in South America. NORTH, CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN ZONE (CONCACAF): Group 1 Granada or Guyana vs. USA Group 2 Bermuda or Montserrat vs. El Salvador Group 3 Haiti or Turks and Caicos Islands vs. Jamaica Group 4 British Virgin Islands or St Lucia vs. Panama Group 5 Cayman Islands or Cuba vs. Costa Rica Group 6 Aruba or Surinam vs. Guatemala Group 7 Antigua and Barbuda or Netherlands Antilles vs. Honduras Group 8 Canada vs. Belize Group 9 Dominica or Bahamas vs. Mexico Group 10 U.S. Virgin Islands or St. Kitts and Nevis vs. Barbados Group 11 Dominican Republic or Anguilla vs. Trinidad and Tobago Group 12 Nicaragua vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines Qualifiers: Three and one team into playoff against fifth-placed team in Asian qualifying competition Twelve winners from preliminary round are divided into three groups of four. Teams which finish first and second in each of these groups go into single group of six. The top three qualify for finals in Germany and fourth-placed team plays off against fifth-placed Asian team. AFRICAN ZONE: Group 1 Senegal, Mali, Zambia, Togo, Liberia, Congo Group 2 South Africa, RD Congo, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda, Cape Verde Group 3 Cameroon, Egypt, Cote d'Ivoire, Libya, Sudan, Benin Group 4 Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Angola, Gabon, Rwanda Group 5 Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, Guinea, Malawi, Botswana Qualifiers: Five Five group winners qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals. A total of 21 nations already eliminated in qualifying in October and November 2003: Burundi, Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Namibia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Chad, Madagascar, Swaziland, Eritrea, Lesotho, Gambia, Sao Tome, Mauritius, Mozambica, Equitorial Guinea, Somalia, Central African Republic Qualification tournament will also count for 2006 African Nations Cup finals in Egypt. EUROPEAN ZONE (UEFA): Group 1 Czech Republic, Holland, Romania, Finland, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra Group 2 Turkey, Denmark, Greece, Ukraine, Georgia, Albania, Kazakhstan Group 3 Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg Group 4 France, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Israel, Cyprus, Faroe Islands Group 5 Italy, Slovenia, Scotland, Norway, Belarus, Moldova Group 6 England, Poland, Austria, Wales, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan Group 7 Spain, Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia Herzegovina, Lithuania, San Marino Group 8 Sweden, Croatia, Bulgaria, Iceland, Hungary, Malta Qualifiers: Thirteen, plus host Germany which qualify automatically. The eight group winners and the two best runners-up qualify for the World Cup finals in Germany. The remaining six runners-up will be drawn into three playoff matches over two legs with winners qualifying for finals. |
