Asia’s World Cup candidates whittled down to final 12

Almost two years after it started, the second round of Asian qualification for the 2022 World Cup ended in June. The eight group winners progressed to the third round along with the four best-performing second-placed teams. This final dozen, which contains all the teams you would expect bar one, will be split into two groups of six and, from September, will fight it out for Asia’s four automatic places in Qatar.

The only surprise along the way