The final night of Asia’s 2018 World Cup qualification campaign has named South Korea and Saudi Arabia as the two teams earning the automatic qualifying slot to Russia.
South Korea booked their place at the ninth straight World Cup finals on Tuesday evening with a goalless draw to Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, a 1-0 win over Japan helped Saudi Arabia overcome Australia in the Group B to become the fourth AFC team to Russia next year.
On the other hand, third teams in each group namely Syria and Australia will square off against each other in October. After that, the winners will enter the intercontinental playoff against the fourth-placed team in CONCACAF in November with the aim of the golden ticket to the world’s most prestigious football tournament.
China’s faint hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals finally ended despite securing the victory they needed in Qatar. Sharing the same fate with Marcello Lippi’s side, the UAE could not make it to Russia with the disappointing 1-0 defeat away to Iraq.