DOHA: Fourteen out of a total of 23 teams yesterday learned their opponents in the qualifying round ahead of the historic FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 draw which takes place at Katara Opera House.   The highly sought-after event will kick off the proceedings at 9:00pm under strict COVID-19 protocols implemented by the Ministry of Public Health.   The organisers yesterday revealed the face-offs between the 14 lowest-ranked teams among the participants according to the April edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings and they will participate in single-leg play-offs ahead of the tournament, which will be held later this year. The play-offs were decided according to the rankings, as follows: Oman (FIFA World Ranking: 80) vs Somalia (197) Lebanon (93) vs Djibouti (183) Jordan (95) vs South Sudan (169) Bahrain (99) vs Kuwait (148) Mauritania (101) vs Yemen (145) Palestine (104) vs Comoros (131) Libya (119) vs Sudan (123) The seven winning teams will join the nine highest-ranked teams who have already qualified for the tournament, the first of its kind. Hosts Qatar, ranked 58th in the world, will enter the tournament as the champions of Asia after lifting the continental title in 2019 following an unbeaten run to the trophy, which included victories against Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Korea Republic and Japan. Tunisia (26), Algeria (33), Morocco (34), Egypt (46), Saudi Arabia (65), Iraq (68), the United Arab Emirates (73) and Syria (79) are the others who will begin the Arab Cup campaign from the Group Stage. The tournament will consist of a group stage and knockout rounds. The 16 teams will be split into four groups of four, w i t h t h e t o p t w o from each progressing to the quarter-finals. Matches will be played at six FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament venues. The draw will be made by four FIFA legends: Wael Gomaa (Egypt), Nawaf Al Temyat (Saudi Arabia), Haytham Mustafa (Sudan) and Younus Mahmood (Iraq), along with FIFA’s Director of Competitions, Manolo Zubiria. A limited number of officials will attend the draw, in line with Qatar’s COVID-19 protocols, but the ceremony will be aired live on @roadto2022 and @ roadto2022en. The FIFA Arab Cup is seen as an important opportunity to test operations and facilities ahead of Qatar 2022. Both tournaments will take place in a similar timeslot, with the finals of each scheduled to take place exactly one year apart – on 18 December, Qatar’s National Day.