The draw for the AFC preliminary round was held at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the results have thrown South Asia neighbours India and Nepal together in one of the notable pairings.

The twelve lowest AFC members in the FIFA rankings must battle through the preliminary round. Bhutan will make their Men’s World Cup qualifying début against Sri Lanka, and Brunei Darussalam will face Chinese Taipei in their first qualifying campaign since losing all six matches in the 2002 qualifiers.

The winners of each of the six serieses advance to the first group phase, which will also serve as a qualifying phase for the 2019 Men’s Asian Cup.

• Series 1: India-Nepal
• Series 2: Yemen-Pakistan
• Series 3: Timor-Leste-Mongolia
• Series 4: Cambodia-Macao
• Series 5: Chinese Taipei-Brunei Darussalam
• Series 6: Sri Lanka-Bhutan