Ireland will face the winner of the Asian Football Confederation play-off if they come second in World Cup qualifying Group Two. Today's draw at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich gives Ireland an idea of what is in store if they do not manage to win the group. Ireland currently are top of Group Two, three points clear of Portugal and four ahead of Holland, but their main rivals both have a game in hand. (Click here to see Group Two's league table and Ireland's fixtures and results.
Asia are now in the second round of their World Cup qualifying process, with ten teams left. There are two qualifying groups and each group winner will automatically qualify. The runner-up of each group will play each other for the right to play the second placed team in European Group Two. Host nations Japan and South Korea have already qualified.
Ireland would play the first leg at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, 10 November. The away leg would be played five days later on 15 November.
Asia World Cup qualifying: the story so far
| Group One table | ||||||
| Team | P | W | D | L | F/A | Pts. |
| Bahrain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:1 | 4 |
| Iran | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
| Iraq | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4:2 | 3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1:3 | 1 |
| Thailand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:4 | 0 |
| Group Two table | ||||||
| Team | P | W | D | L | F/A | Pts. |
| China PR | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4:4 | 3 |
| Uzbekistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3:5 | 3 |
| Oman | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
| Qatar | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1:2 | 1 |
Filed by Greg McKevitt
