HONG KONG (Reuters) - The draw for the first phase of Asia's qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup finals featuring the continent's lowest ranked nations was made on Wednesday, even though FIFA has yet to decide how many teams will participate in the tournament.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino continues to promote his plan to expand the tournament from 32 to 48 teams and potentially share the hosting duties originally awarded to Qatar with other nations in the Middle East.
Despite the uncertainty, Asian football officials conducted the draw for the first round of the continent's qualifying tournament, which features the region's 12 lowest ranked national teams. Malaysia will play fellow South East Asians East Timor while Laos take on Bangladesh, Macau face Sri Lanka and Brunei face off against Mongolia.
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