India to meet Myanmar in Beijing Olympics football preliminary rou

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 7 (UNI) India will play Myanmar on February 7 and 14 next year in the preliminary round of the Beijing Olympics Men's Football Qualifiers.

In the preliminary round draw held at the AFC House here, India were paired with the South East Asian neighbour in the two-leg playoff while Pakistan were clubbed with Singapore and Bangladesh were chosen to face Hong Kong for their berths in the qualification round.

All the preliminary round matches will be held on February 7 and 14 next year.

Meanwhile, Iraq, Korea Republic, Japan, Bahrain and Iran have been seeded in the top five in that order. The top 14 seeded teams will qualify directly for the second round (qualification round) for which the draw will be held on September 16 in Singapore. China have automatic qualification to the tournament proper as hosts.

Pairings for Preliminary Round: India vs Myanmar; Jordan vs Kyrgyzstan; Turkmenistan vs Thailand; Vietnam vs Afghanistan; Uzbekistan vs Tajikistan; Singapore vs Pakistan; Hong Kong vs Bangladesh; Yemen vs Palestine; Indonesia vs Maldives; Australia vs Chinese Taipei Top 14 seeds for qualification round: 1. Iraq 2. Korea Republic 3. Japan 4. Bahrain 5. Iran 6. Oman 7. Kuwait 8. UAE 9. Saudi Arabia 10. Lebanon 11. Malaysia 12. DPR Korea 13. Syria 14. Qatar UNI XC PDS PM KN1437