The groups for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers were drawn in Zurich on Monday.
The first team drawn out of the bowl was the winner of the Tonga v Cook Islands preliminary match. They were put into Group A, alongside Vanuatu, Tahiti and the Solomon Islands.
But it is Group B which is the “group of death” of this World Cup qualifiers, with Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia and New Zealand in it.
The qualifiers will be played as a mini-tournament and held in Qatar between March 14-30 next year. The Cook Islands and Tonga will play a one-off first round match to decide who goes through to the group stages.
Each team will be playing each of their group opponents once in the group stages before semi-finals and a final. The winner of the qualifiers will face the fourth-placed CONCACAF team in the inter-confederation playoffs.
