Korea Republic would have walked away from Thursday's draw highly confident of securing an 11th consecutive appearance at the FIFA World Cup. Although there are potential pitfalls, Son Heung-min and his teammates will feel that one of the two confirmed spots from the group is theirs to lose given the quality in the ranks.

While Korea Republic are the early favourites, the remaining teams will all also fancy their chances of advancing to the Finals after sterling second round campaigns with Iraq the most impressive with a perfect record of six wins.

Jordan have maintained their form since storming into the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ final, a run which included defeating Iraq in the Round of 16 and Korea Republic in the semi-finals and the West Asian side will not be lacking in confidence when they kick off their bid to advance to the FIFA World Cup Finals for the first time.

Kuwait and Iraq will be aiming to end long waits when the action kicks off, with both having appeared once each at the global stage. Kuwait qualified for the 1982 edition while Iraq's only appearance was in 1986.

Palestine will aim to create more history when they make their debut at this stage of the AFC Asian Qualifiers as they look to continue an amazing 2023 which saw them advancing to the AFC Asian Cup knockout stage for the first time before sealing a place in the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Much tougher tests await but the West Asian side will relish the opportunity.