KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) Asian Cup champion Australia and Japan have been grouped together in the last round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Socceroos and Japan were drawn into Group B at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur and will be joined by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Thailand.
Iran and South Korea were the top-seeded teams in Group A, which also includes China, Uzbekistan, 2022 World Cup host Qatar and Syria.
The teams were drawn into two groups of six, with the matches starting in September. The top two teams in each group qualify automatically, with the third-place teams playing off for a shot at an inter-continental qualifier against the fourth-place team from CONCACAF.