ZURICH: The draw for the first round of 2018 FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers threw up some intriguing ties, as the 12 lowest-ranked Asian Football Confederation (AFC) teams discovered who they will face in their first step on the road to Russia. The headline match sees India, the team ranked highest in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of the 12 sides, take on Nepal. The game will mean a return to Nepal for India’s coach Stephen Constantine, who coached the Gorkhalis over a decade ago. All the ties will be played over two legs, home and away, with the first match taking place on 12 March and the return game on 17 March. The winners will progress to Round 2 of AFC qualifying, joining the remaining 34 teams in the confederation. The second round, which begins in June, will see eight groups of five teams play off in a round-robin format. The AFC World Cup qualifiers also double as a qualifying competition for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, with the eight group winners and four best runners-up progressing to the final round of 2018 World Cup qualifying, and securing an automatic place at the 2019 continental showpiece. AFC 2018 World Cup / 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying Round 1 Ties to be played Thursday 12 March & Tuesday 17 March: India v Nepal Yemen v Pakistan Timor-Leste v Mongolia Cambodia v Macau Chinese Taipei v Brunei Darussalam Sri Lanka v Bhutan