| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam have been drawn in Group ‘B’ of the Asean Zone in the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Championship qualifiers this November following a qualification draw held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday.
The qualification process for the Asean teams has already been known prior to the announcement which is set to compete in an AFF tournament between November 23 and October 3.
The draw and group allocation for Asean teams have already been announced with the top two teams from each group clinching a place in the tournament proper which is set in February next year.
The four zones that will be involved in the qualifying process are nations in the Asia Pacific, the South and Central Zone the West Zone and lastly the East Zone or teams domiciled in the Middle East.
A total of 29 teams in Asia have been registered to participate in the championship including Brunei Darussalam with only 16 making it to the finals.
The hosts for next year’s regional showpiece have not been decided but four countries namely Thailand, Lebanon, Iran and Chinese Taipei have expressed interest to stage the tournament.
The Wasps will be huge underdogs having been handed a tough test with the likes of designated hosts Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia in the same group.
Vietnam have proven that they belong in the world stage after famously qualifying for the FIFA Futsal World Cup after shocking heavily fancied Japan in the quarterfinals of the continental competition last year.
The Golden Stars, who never qualified for the World Cup, produced one of the game’s greatest upsets when they emerged victorious in penalties after a 4-4 draw in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Vietnam continued their impressive form after advancing to the knock-out stage in the first attempt only bowing out of the competition after losing to eventual finalists Russia in Medellin, Colombia.
The AFF member association’s strong showing catapulted them from 70th place to the world top 40 teams in the official futsal world rankings.
Thailand will be the highest ranked nation in the group who is 15th while Indonesia are ranked 51st. According to the futsal world rankings, Brunei are currently ranked in 109th place ahead of the likes of Gibraltar, Malta and San Marino.
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