The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed in a statement released in Kuala Lumpur on Friday 12th March that the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ matches would take place in “centralised venues” from the last day of May until mid-June this year.

This had been agreed between the AFC and Asia’s Member Associations “following a process of close consultation,” the announcement read. All matches will be consolidated into eight groups (A to H) and played between 31st May and June 15^th in a consensus of eight specific country locations.

The eight nominated locations will be: China PR, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi, Qatar, Japan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Korean Republic.

These country locations will host the designated groups which are made up of the following teams:

China PR – Group A: Syria, Philippines, Maldives and Guam

Kuwait Group B: Australia, Jordan, Nepal and Chinese Taipei.

Bahrain Group C: Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Hong Kong and

Saudi Group D: Uzbekistan, Singapore, Yemen and Palestine

Qatar Group E: Oman, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh

Japan Group F: Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Group G:  ASEAN challengers Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia

Korean Republic Group H: Turkmenistan, Lebanon, DPR Korea and Sri Lanka

In related news, on same day the announcement was made, China PR’s Head coach Li Tie summoned 28 players to a training camp as the national side scale up their preparations for the Asian Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.  

China is currently in second place in Group A with seven points, eight points behind Syria, although Li Tie’s side has a match in hand. The Shanghai-based training camp is scheduled from March 21^st to April 3rd with China focussed on sharpening up their overall performance ahead of resuming the Group A qualification campaign.

China are scheduled to play the Maldives on June 3rd, then against the Philippines on June 7th, Guam June 11th and finally Syria on June 15th in their bid to advance to the third round of the Asian Qualifiers.

China PR Squad called up:

Wu Xi (Shanghai Shenhua), Li Ang (,Shanghai Port), Ai Kesen (Guangzhou Evergrande), Liu Dianzuo (Guangzhou Evergrande), A Lan (Beijing Guoan), Wei Shihao (Guangzhou Evergrande), Fei Nanduo (Guangzhou Evergrande), Jiang Guangtai (Guangzhou Evergrande), Yu Dabao (Beijing Guoan), Zhang Xizhe (Beijing Guoan), Chi Zhongguo (Beijing Sinobo Guoan), Yu Yang (Beijing Guoan), Wang Gang (Beijing Guoan), Li Lei (Beijing Guoan), Zhang Yuning (Beijing Guoan), Yan Junling (Shanghai SIPG), Wang Shenchao (Shanghai SIPG), Hao Junmin (Shandong Luneng), Jin Jingdao (Shandong Luneng), Wu Xinghan (Shandong Luneng), Zeng Cheng (Shanghai Greenland Shenhua), Yin Hongbo (Hebei China Fortune), Wang Shangyuan (Henan Jianye), Tang Miao (Guangzhou City), Jiang Zhipeng (Shenzhen), Dong Chunyu (Wuhan Zall), Ming tian (Wuhan Zall.) and Tan Long (Changchun Yatai).

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