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Twenty teams have made it to this stage and they were split into four pots of five teams. Of those four pots, five qualifying groups will be created where each country will play home and away. The teams which finish first and second in their group qualify for the next round.
The matches will take place on the following match days;
- 6th February 2008
- 26th March 2008
- 20th August 2008
- 11th October 2008
- 15th October 2008
- 19th November 2008
Group 1: Australia, China PR, Iraq, Qatar
Group 2: Japan, Bahrain, Oman, Thailand
Group 3: Korea Republic, Korea DPR, Jordan, Turkmenistan
Group 4: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Singapore
Group 5: Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Syria
In the next round, the ten remaining teams will be drawn into two groups of five teams. The teams in each group play each other twice, home and away. The top 2 teams in each group will qualify for the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Fifth Place meets Oceania Group Winner
The two teams finishing 3rd in the last group stage play each other for 5th place. The winner will be the team with the highest aggregate score over two legs. These play off matches are scheduled for 10 October 2009 and 14 October 2009.
The 5th place team will then play the winner of the Oceania qualification group in a home and away play-off. The winner of this play-off will qualify for the World Cup finals.
The matches are scheduled for 14 November 2009 and 21 November 2009.
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