Cambodia were given a tough qualifying group when the draw for the the 2019 Asian Cup was held on Monday night in Abu Dhabi. The Angkor Warriors, ranked 171 in the world, will play in Group C alongside neighbours Vietnam, Jordan and Afghanistan.

Cambodia and Afghanistan met in World Cup qualifying in 2015, with the Khurasan Lions, ranked 151, edging the match at Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium 1-0 in June, before taking the return leg 3-0 at Tehran’s Takhti Stadium.

Vietnam are ranked 136 in the world by FIFA, while Jordan place 107. The top two teams in the six groups progress to join the 11 teams who have already qualified, via their reaching the final round of Asian World Cup 2018 qualifying, and hosts UAE.

Thailand, Japan, South Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Qatar, Uzbekistan and defending champions Australia await in the 24-team tournament to be held on January 5-February 1. Qualifying starts on March 28 and is set to finish on March 27, 2018.