Azkals gain third seeding in AFC Asian Cup elims

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has been seeded third ahead of the Jan. 23 draw for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Qualifiers final round in Abu Dhabi.

Standing at 122nd in the latest Fifa world rankings, the Azkals got the No. 3 seeding among 24 confirmed countries and effectively secured a place in Pot 1 to avoid the higher-ranked rivals in the chase for the remaining 12 slots in the 2019 Asian meet.

The Pinoy booters were seeded behind No. 1 Jordan and No. 2 Oman and ahead of Bahrain, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea, all of whom they won’t have to face in the home-and-away double round robin qualifiers featuring six groups of four.

The Azkals need to finish in the Top 2 of their group to achieve a historic qualification to Asia’s most prestigious football competition.

Also set to vie in the qualifiers are India, Palestine, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan, Chinese Taipei, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan and Macau.

The Filipinos and Co. are seeking to join early qualifiers Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and host United Arab Emirates in the 2019 showpiece.

The Philippines remained in contention for an Asian Cup berth after placing third in Group H of second round of the joint Fifa World Cup-Asian Cup qualifiers last year.

Meanwhile, the Filipinos maintained their status as the top-ranked team among Asean countries. Phl (122) outranked reigning AFF Suzuki Cup champion Thailand (126), Vietnam (136), Myanmar (159), Malaysia (161) and Singapore (165) and the rest of the region in the latest rankings released this week.