UAE football in 2018 World Cup qualifying: Guide to what comes next

An explainer of what comes next for the UAE national football team as they have reached the third round of qualifying in Asia for the 2018 World Cup.

UAE supporters unveil a huge flag during their 2018 World Cup Asia qualifying match against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night in Abu Dhabi. Karim Sahib / AFP / March 29, 2016

On Tuesday night, the UAE secured a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia and, with it, passage into the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2018 Russia World Cup. Below, we detail what comes next for the Emirates:

How the next stage works:

On April 12, the 12 remaining teams in Asia playing for four-and-a-half (more on that in a second) places at the 2018 World Cup will be drawn into two groups of six.

At the conclusion of the third round of qualifying, in September 2017, the top two teams in each group will have punched their tickets to World Cup 2018. The third-placed teams in each group will play off for the right to go to a final play-off with a team from the North and Central American and Caribbean (Concacaf) confederation (thus, half a place). The bottom six teams of the two groups will be eliminated.

See more: UAE keep up World Cup charge against Saudi Arabia in Abu Dhabi – in pictures

And watch: UAE football fans celebrate goal at World Cup qualifying match against Saudi Arabia

The draw:

Teams will be seeded, based on Fifa rankings, into six pots of two, and drawn from those pots.

By current rankings, UAE (Fifa No 64) would be seeded into Pot 3 with Australia (No 67), meaning any of the other 10 teams (but only one each from the other five pots) could conceivably be grouped with the Emiratis.

These are the provisional pots for the 12 qualified teams in Asian World Cup qualifying*:

*Rankings will change slightly, and could affect particularly close teams like Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Australia ahead of April 12 draw

Pot 1: Iran (44) and Japan (56)

Pot 2: South Korea (57) and Saudi Arabia (60)

Pot 3: UAE (64) and Australia (67)

Pot 4: Uzbekistan (74) and Qatar (80)

Pot 5: Iraq (91) and China (96)

Pot 6: Thailand (118) and Syria (123)

The matches:

The first matches of the third round, according the Fifa calendar, are scheduled for September 1. Teams will play 10 matches total, one home-and-away with each group opponent, over the course of the next year ahead of Russia 2018.

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