The keenly awaited draw on Friday at 1700 hours local time will see 10 teams – top two from the five groups who are currently playing in the third round which culminates on June 22 – coming out of the pots to be divided into two groups of five each.

The winners and runners-up of these two groups will represent Asia at the first ever FIFA World Cup in Africa in 2010. The third placed teams in both groups will clash in a home-and-away playoff with the winners going into another double-legged playoff against an Oceania Football Confederation team for a spot in the biggest football show on earth.

Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, Iran and Saudi Arabia qualified for the previous World Cup in Germany but only the Socceroos managed to clear the group stage.

The gruelling fourth phase schedule involves 10 match days, kicking into life on September 6, 2008, before the identity of the four automatic qualifiers becomes clear on June 17, 2009.

For the half-berth beckoning Asia, the intra-continental playoff dates are October 10, 2009, and October 14, 2009, while the action shifts to the inter-continental level against an Oceania team on November 14, 2009, and November 21, 2009.

The 32-team draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals (June 11-July 11) will take place in Cape Town in December 2009.

KEY DATES
FWCQ ASIAN QUALIFIERS - ROUND FOUR

MD 1: September 6, 2008
MD 2: September 10, 2008
MD 3: October 15, 2008
MD 4: November 19, 2008
MD 5: February 11, 2009
MD 6: March 28, 2009
MD 7: April 1, 2009
MD 8: June 6, 2009
MD 9: June 10, 2009
MD 10: June 17, 2009