Asia World Cup Qualifying- Third Round

Group A

Iran and South Korea have booked the two automatic qualifiers for Qatar

The third-place playoff spot will be either UAE, Lebanon or Iraq

UAE: Two wins and nine points (goal difference is three better than Lebanon and seven better than Iraq) 

Lebanon: One win and six points

Iraq: No wins and five points (five draws) 

Group B is anyone's game with the final encounters next month 

Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia are the only three teams left in contention as Oman, China and Vietnam have all been eliminated

Saudi Arabia (nineteen points) and Japan (eighteen points) are in the first two spots as they both have six wins, with Australia two wins and three points further back

*Australia, it's worth noting, have the edge in goal difference with four more than Saudi Arabia and three more than Japan 

March 24th

Australia v. Japan (Japan won 2-1 in October)

China v. Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia won 3-2 in October) 

Vietnam v. Oman

If Japan and Saudi Arabia both win...

Given that they would have twenty-one and twenty-two points and Australia would remain with fifteen, the top three places would be decided entering the final day of games

March 29th

Japan v. Vietnam (Japan won 1-0 in November) 

Saudi Arabia v. Australia (match in November finished up 0-0) 

Oman v. China