Defending champion Japan will face Saudi Arabia in the 2007 Asian Cup qualifying competition following Wednesday's draw.

Group B also features two World Cup sides with Iran facing 2002 semi-finalist South Korea. Australia, who was officially admitted to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on January 1, is in Group D with Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon.

China, the 2004 Asian Cup runner-up, appears to have a comfortable route to the finals in Group E against Iraq, Singapore and Palestine.

The 2007 Asian Cup will be jointly hosted by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Japan has won the past two Asian Cup tournaments and is expected to qualify comfortably with the Saudis. Also in Group A are Yemen and India and Japan's first qualifier is at home against India on February 22.

The AFC has given World Cup teams the option of postponing their qualifiers on March 1, which is an official match day on the FIFA calendar, if they prefer to arrange friendlies.

Australia, due to compete in the World Cup in Germany for the first time since 1974, was ranked among the bottom six teams for Wednesday's draw because it has no record in previous Asian Cup events.

All of Australia's Group D opponents are from the Middle East which means it should have a good chance of fielding its European-based players.

Source: Xinhua