World's lowest ranked side Bhutan scores historic World Cup qualifying win

Bhutan, ranked 209 and last in FIFA's world ranings, stunned host Sri Lanka as a late Tshering Dorji goal secured a 1-0 win in a 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier first leg encounter - the nations first ever World Cup qualifying match.

 Bhutan players

Bhutan players celebrate their historic win in Colombo (AAP) Source: EPA

Elsewhere, Timor-Leste trounced visiting Mongolia 4-1 to take a stranglehold on its tie while Yemen put itself in pole position for a place in the second round of joint-qualifiers with a 3-1 win over Pakistan.
India accounted for Nepal 2-0, Chinese Taipei was edged out 1-0 by visiting Brunei while Cambodia scored three second-half goals to cruise to a 3-0 win over Macau.

The six Round 1 winners - of the two-legged ties which conclude on 17 March- will advance to the second round where the 34 highest-ranked teams - including Asian champion Australia - await. The 40 nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams and compete according to a double round-robin format.

The Round 2 qualification matches will be held between 11 June 11 2015 and 29 March 29 2016.

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.


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Published 13 March 2015 11:13am
Source: SBS

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