The draw for the final round of the Asian Football Confederation qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia has taken place in Kuala Lumpur. And China has been drawn in a group with top seeds Iran, as well as powerhouse South Korea, with only the top two teams automatically qualifying for the finals.

Windsor John, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) General Secretary, displays a draw for China during the official draw for the final round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup football Asian qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 12, 2016. [Xinhua]

With China in the fourth pot as the eighth ranked team in the draw, there was never going to be an easy route to the finals. But it really couldn't have been any tougher as the names were pulled from the bowl. China got drawn in a group with the higher ranked teams from four out of the five other pots, alongside Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Syria.

Reporter: "China will meet more West Asian countries in the group, will it make any difference?"

"It is the same. Actually if we got drawn in group B, with the opponents being Saudi Arabia, Japan, Iraq and Australia, it won't make much difference. So no need to think too much, and just do our best," China assistant coach Ou Chuling said.

The coach of top seed Iran isn't taking China lightly.

"I know how much they are growing up, and how much investment they are putting in the game, bringing coaches, players, huge work in terms of youth development, and you never know in future how much this sleeping giant can wake up suddenly," Iran's head coach Carlos Queiroz said.

The draw comes just a day after China announced an ambitious master plan to become a global footballing superpower over the next quarter century. The plan is to have 20000 training Centres, 50,000 pitches and 50 million Chinese playing football by 2020.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the finals, while the winner of a playoff between the two third placed teams will face the fourth placed team from North and Central America, and the Caribbean for the final place.

Having just edged through the previous qualifying round in the last day, China will have to step up its game considerably to match its 2002 achievement and reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

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