Azkals down 11 spots, see hard grind in Qualifiers

WITH THE World Cup Qualifying draw for Asia looming, the Philippines fell 11 spots to No. 139 in the latest International Football Federation rankings, which meant a tougher road to the sport’s showpiece event.

Now ranked three places down to 18th in Asia, the Azkals dropped to Pot 3 ahead of the draw on Monday in Kuala Lumpur.

There will be five pots in qualifying with the best-ranked eight teams—Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, China and Iraq in Pot 1.

The 40 teams in qualifying will be divided into eight groups of five teams with the top squads from each group along with the four best-second placers advancing to the next round. They will also be assured of spots in the Asian Cup in 2019.

Teams in the same pot will not be drawn together and as a result, the Azkals will not be facing Afghanistan, Thailand, Maldives, Palestine, Tajikistan, Lebanon and India in the second round of qualifying.

Had they been in Pot 2, the Azkals would have avoided Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Vietnam, Syria and Kuwait.

Instead, the Azkals will face either one of the eight teams ranked ahead of them in their first home match of the qualifiers on June 11.