JAPAN Coach : Takeshi Okada
FIFA ranking : 35
Head-to-head : Played 16, won 6, drew 5, lost 5.
Key men : Shunsuke Nakamura, Tulio Tanaka, Makoto Hasebe.
Comment : After qualifying for three successive World Cups, and failing to get out of the group stage each time, pressure on the national team never drops below boiling point. Okada, a hero for taking Japan to their first World Cup in 1998, is now the butt of scorn in his homeland - slammed for lacking man-management skills, motivational skills, and his cautious selection policy, especially when it comes to young players. The hyped-up reaction to a recent loss to Uruguay in a warm-up match suggests even if he does manage to steer Japan to the World Cup, he is unlikely to keep his job. The level of scrutiny reflects the maturation of Japanese football - a generation has grown up since the J-League was launched 15 years ago, and a culture of expectation has developed much like that in "first world" football nations. The payback for players who enjoy some of the best conditions anywhere in the world is to provide not just results, but performances. Last year's Asian Cup, and this year's World Cup qualifiers, haven't hit the mark, and rather than rise to the challenge, the players seem to be intimidated by it. In particular, the inability of Japanese players to accept responsibility in front of goal has become a standing joke. Japan will start the final round of qualifiers as favourites, but nervous ones. One bad result, and the team could implode. QATAR Coach : Jorge Fossati
FIFA ranking : =81
Head-to-head : Played 2, won 2.
Key men : Fabio Cesar, Sebastian Quintana, Abdullah Koni.
Comment : How the oil-rich Qataris are still able to participate in the qualifiers remains a mystery given they fielded an ineligible player, Brazilian midfielder Emerson, in a qualifier against Iraqi earlier this year, but somehow escaped sanction. With Qatari Mohammad bin Hammam the president of Asian football, and a key ally of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the conspiracy theories abound. What's not in doubt is that Qatari football is awash with cash, the domestic league pays the best money in Asia and attracts plenty of big-name players from Europe - some even in their prime. The influx of foreigners gives Qatar the platform to naturalise players for the national team - hence players from Africa, South America and Arab nations in the Middle East and north Africa have all worn the maroon jersey in the qualifiers, with Uruguayan-born striker Quintana the standout recruit. But with FIFA less than impressed with the practice, and the Emerson faux pas fresh in mind, Qatar are working to head off the inevitable by recruiting African players as young as 10 and 11 from poor families and warehousing them for the future in the $2 billion Aspire academy. Whatever the moral argument, Qatar are intent on reaching the summit of Asian football, but as the Socceroos demonstrated with wins in Melbourne and Doha earlier this year, money doesn't buy passion, and that still counts. UZBEKISTAN Coach : Raul Inileev
FIFA ranking : 59
Head-to-head : Never played.
Key men : Server Djeparov, Maksim Shatskikh, Timur Kapadze.
Comment : Pim Verbeek calls them the dark horses, but the former Soviet republic have been a threat for years, even if their results since a stunning Asian Games success in 1994 haven't reflected their true potential. For the next decade the Uzbeks flattered to deceive, although their elimination from the 2006 World Cup in the play-off against Bahrain was shrouded in controversy after FIFA annulled their win in Tashkent. Perhaps spurred on by that disappointment, their recent form has been a vast improvement, not least because they have returned to a homegrown coach - the canny Inileev - after relying on imported coaches for years. In last year's Asian Cup they thrashed China and Malaysia before being knocked out by eventual finalists Saudi Arabia, while in this year's World Cup qualifiers they were the first team to reach the fourth round. An influx of petrodollars into football is set to reshape the domestic league, with champions Bunyodkor flexing their newfound financial muscle by signing Brazilian superstar Rivaldo for this month's Asian Champions League knockout stage. Uzbekistan's form in their recent warm-up matches, notably a loss to Oman and a draw against North Korea, suggests they might be feeling the pressure of expectation, but in the hothouse atmosphere of Tashkent they will be difficult to beat. BAHRAIN Coach : Milan Macala
FIFA ranking : 66
Head-to-head : Played 2, won 2.
Key players : Jaycee John, Ala'a Hubail, Mahmood Abdulrahman.
Comment : A growing force ever since they stunned Asian football with a fourth-placed finish in the 2004 Asian Cup - the emergence of Bahrain was underlined by their near-miss at qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, where they were edged by South Korea. While the domestic league lacks professionalism, the proximity of Qatar, Kuwait and UAE means the best Bahraini players have opportunities close at hand. Wily Czech coach Macala survived the fallout from a disappointing Asian Cup last year (they pushed the Socceroos in both matches in the qualifying stage) before proving his mettle in the first phase of this World Cup qualifying campaign - Bahrain finished runners-up to group winners Japan but did manage to beat the Japanese for the first time. The scorer of the winning goal, striker Hubail, has scored regularly at both international and club level since the 2004 Asian Cup, and has a new partner in Nigerian-born forward John, who is the only Bahraini playing in Europe. He has scored twice in three starts this season for his Belgian side, Mouscron. Bahrain have never qualified for a World Cup, but came close in 2006 when they were beaten by Trinidad and Tobago in a play-off. AUSTRALIA'S DRAW September 10: v Uzbekistan, Tashkent
October 15: v Qatar, Brisbane
November 19: v Bahrain, Manama
February 11, 2009: v Japan, Tokyo
April 1, 2009: v Uzbekistan, Sydney
June 6, 2009: v Qatar, Doha
June 10, 2009: v Bahrain, TBA
June 17, 2009: v Japan, Melbourne WORLD CUP QUALIFYING: HOW IT WORKS The 10 teams to reach the final round of Asian qualifiers have been split into two groups of five.
Group A: Australia, Qatar, Japan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain.
Group B: South Korea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
The top two teams from each group qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The two third-placed teams meet in a home-and-away play-off, with the loser eliminated and the winner proceeding to another home-and-away play-off against the winners of Oceania late next year.
New Zealand are top of the Oceania standings, and if the All Whites collect three points from their two games against New Caledonia over the next six days, they will qualify for the play-off against the fifth-best Asian team.
The winner of that match goes to South Africa 2010.