2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

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2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
AFC Asian Qualifiers.png
Tournament details
Dates6 June 2019 – June 2022
Teams46 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played180
Goals scored569 (3.16 per match)
Attendance1,711,602 (9,509 per match)
Top scorer(s)United Arab Emirates Ali Mabkhout (12 goals)
← 2018
2026 →
All statistics correct as of 7 September 2021.
AFC Asian Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
AFC Asian Cup
  • v
  • t

The Asian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams which are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Apart from Qatar (who qualified automatically as hosts), a total of 4.5 slots (4 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament are available for AFC teams.[1]

The qualification process involves four rounds; the first two rounds double as the qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Despite qualifying as hosts, Qatar participated in these two rounds to seek Asian Cup qualification. They would have acted as qualifiers for the cancelled 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup.[2]

Format[]

The qualification structure is as follows:[3]

  • First round: Twelve teams (ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
  • Second round: Forty teams (ranked 1–34 and six first-round winners) were divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. Originally, the eight group winners and the four best group runners-up were supposed advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification, as well as qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. However, since Qatar won their group, the fifth-best runners-up took their place in the third round.[4]
  • Third round: Twelve teams which advanced from the second round will be divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the World Cup, and the third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
  • Fourth round: The two third-placed teams from the third round will play home and away over two legs. The winners will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Entrants[]

All 46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification. The FIFA World Rankings of April 2019 were used to determine which nations would compete in the first round. For seeding in the second round and third round draws, the most recent FIFA Rankings prior to those draws will be used.

According to the joint format of the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, both Qatar (as the host nation of the 2022 World Cup) and China PR (as the host nation of the 2023 Asian Cup) also entered the second round of the qualifiers.[5]

Timor-Leste was banned from participating in the Asian Cup qualification after being found to have fielded a total of 12 ineligible players in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches among other competitions.[6] However, as FIFA did not ban them from the World Cup qualifiers, Timor-Leste was allowed to enter the competition, but ineligible to qualify for the Asian Cup.[7]

From the April 2019 FIFA World Rankings[8]
Bye to the second round
(Ranked 1st to 34th) 		Competing in first round
(Ranked 35th to 46th)
  1.  Iran (21)
  2.  Japan (26)
  3.  South Korea (37)
  4.  Australia (41)
  5.  Qatar (55)
  6.  United Arab Emirates (67)
  7.  Saudi Arabia (72)
  8.  China PR (74)
  9.  Iraq (76)
  10.  Syria (83)
  11.  Uzbekistan (85)
  12.  Lebanon (86)
  13.  Oman (86)
  14.  Kyrgyzstan (95)
  15.  Jordan (97)
  16.  Vietnam (98)
  17.  Palestine (99)
  18.  India (101)
  19.  Bahrain (111)
  20.  Thailand (114)
  21.  Tajikistan (120)
  22.  North Korea (121)
  23.  Philippines (124)
  24.  Chinese Taipei (125)
  25.  Turkmenistan (136)
  26.  Myanmar (140)
  27.  Hong Kong (141)
  28.  Yemen (146)
  29.  Afghanistan (149)
  30.  Maldives (151)
  31.  Kuwait (156)
  32.  Indonesia (159)
  33.  Singapore (160)
  34.    Nepal (161)
  1.  Malaysia (168)
  2.  Cambodia (173)
  3.  Macau (183)
  4.  Laos (184)
  5.  Bhutan (186)
  6.  Mongolia (187)
  7.  Bangladesh (188)
  8.  Guam (193)
  9.  Brunei (194)
  10.  Timor-Leste (195)
  11.  Pakistan (200)
  12.  Sri Lanka (202)

Schedule[]

The schedule of the competition is expected to be as follows, according to the FIFA International Match Calendar.[9][10][11][12][13]

On 9 March 2020, FIFA and AFC announced that the second round matches on matchdays 7–10 due to take place in March and June 2020 were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the new dates to be confirmed. However, subject to approval by FIFA and AFC, and agreement of both member associations, the matches may be played as scheduled provided that the safety of all individuals involved meets the required standards.[14][15] On 5 June, AFC confirmed that matchdays 7 and 8 were scheduled to take place on 8 and 13 October respectively while matchdays 9 and 10 were also scheduled to kick off on 12 and 17 November.[16] On 12 August, FIFA announced that the matches scheduled for October and November 2020 would be rescheduled to 2021.[17]

On 25 June 2020, FIFA announced that the inter-confederation play-offs, originally scheduled to be played in March 2022, were moved to June.[18]

On 11 November 2020, the AFC Competitions Committee announced that all the Asian qualifiers second round matches should be completed by 15 June 2021 with matchdays 7 and 8 in March 2021 and matchdays 9 and 10 in June 2021 with the final round of the Asian qualifiers beginning in September 2021. Also all 10 matchdays of the Asian qualifiers final round should be finished by the end of March 2022 with the Asian and inter-continental play-offs proposed for the FIFA window of May/June 2022. The Asian play-off for the World Cup in Qatar was proposed as a single match.[19] On the same day, however, FIFA, along with the Bangladeshi and Qatari associations, gave approval to the only second round match originally scheduled for 2020, Qatar v. Bangladesh, which was played on 4 December.[20]

On 19 February 2021, FIFA and AFC postponed the majority of the upcoming matches to June.[21]

Round Matchday Date(s)
First round First leg 6 June 2019
Second leg 11 June 2019
Second round Matchday 1 5 September 2019
Matchday 2 10 September 2019
Matchday 3 10 October 2019
Matchday 4 15 October 2019
Matchday 5 14 November 2019
Matchday 6 19 November 2019
Matchday 7 25 March, 28 May and 3 June 2021
Matchday 8 4 December 2020, 30 March and 7 & 9 June 2021
Matchday 9 30 March, 30 May and 11 June 2021
Matchday 10 13 and 15 June 2021
Round Matchday Date
Third round Matchday 1 2 September 2021
Matchday 2 7 September 2021
Matchday 3 7 October 2021
Matchday 4 12 October 2021
Matchday 5 11 November 2021
Matchday 6 16 November 2021
Matchday 7 27 January 2022
Matchday 8 1 February 2022
Matchday 9 24 March 2022
Matchday 10 29 March 2022
Fourth round Single leg May or June 2022
Inter-confederation
play-offs 		First leg June 2022
Second leg June 2022
Original qualifying schedule
Stage Matchday Date
Second round Matchday 7 26 March 2020, later 8 October
Matchday 8 31 March 2020, later 13 October
Matchday 9 4 June 2020, later 12 November, then 7 June 2021
Matchday 10 9 June 2020, later 17 November
Third round Matchday 1 3 September 2020
Matchday 2 8 September 2020
Matchday 3 13 October 2020
Matchday 4 12 November 2020
Matchday 5 17 November 2020
Matchday 6 25 March 2021
Matchday 7 30 March 2021
Matchday 8 8 June 2021
Matchday 9 7 September 2021
Matchday 10 12 October 2021
Fourth round First leg 11 November 2021
Second leg 16 November 2021

First round[]

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC First Round

The draw for the first round was held on 17 April 2019 at 11:00 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[22]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mongolia  3–2  Brunei 2–0 1–2
Macau  1–3[note 1]  Sri Lanka 1–0 0–3 (awd.)
Laos  0–1  Bangladesh 0–1 0–0
Malaysia  12–2  Timor-Leste 7–1 5–1
Cambodia  4–1  Pakistan 2–0 2–1
Bhutan  1–5  Guam 1–0 0–5

Second round[]

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round

The draw for the second round was held on 17 July 2019 at 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[26]

Summary[]

  Qualified for the third round (except Qatar) and Asian Cup (except China) as winners or top five runners-up
  Advanced to the Asian Cup third qualifying round as bottom three runners-up, third-placed, fourth-placed and top three fifth-placed team
  Advanced to the AFC Asian Cup qualifying play-off round.
  Denotes a team that was eliminated as a result of withdrawal.
Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H

Syria

China PR
(Third round only)
Australia
Iran

Iraq
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
(Asian Cup only)

Oman
Japan
United Arab Emirates

Vietnam
South Korea

Lebanon

Philippines

Maldives
Kuwait

Jordan

Nepal
Bahrain

Hong Kong
Uzbekistan

Palestine

Singapore

Yemen
India

Afghanistan

Bangladesh
Tajikistan

Kyrgyzstan

Mongolia

Myanmar
Malaysia

Thailand
Turkmenistan

Sri Lanka

Guam
Chinese Taipei
Cambodia
Indonesia

North Korea

Group A[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Syria China Philippines Maldives Guam
1  Syria 8 7 0 1 22 7 +15 21 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–1 1–0 2–1 4–0
2  China PR 8 6 1 1 30 3 +27 19 Third round[a] 3–1 — 2–0 5–0 7–0
3  Philippines 8 3 2 3 12 11 +1 11 Asian Cup qualifying third round 2–5 0–0 — 1–1 3–0
4  Maldives 8 2 1 5 7 20 −13 7 0–4 0–5 1–2 — 3–1
5  Guam 8 0 0 8 2 32 −30 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–3 0–7 1–4 0–1 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ China PR qualified for the Asian Cup as host nation.

Group B[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Australia Kuwait Jordan Nepal Chinese Taipei
1  Australia 8 8 0 0 28 2 +26 24 Third round and Asian Cup — 3–0 1–0 5–0 5–1
2  Kuwait 8 4 2 2 19 7 +12 14 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 — 0–0 7–0 9–0
3  Jordan 8 4 2 2 13 3 +10 14 0–1 0–0 — 3–0 5–0
4    Nepal 8 2 0 6 4 22 −18 6 0–3 0–1 0–3 — 2–0
5  Chinese Taipei 8 0 0 8 4 34 −30 0 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 1–7 1–2 1–2 0–2 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group C[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Iran Iraq Bahrain Hong Kong Cambodia
1  Iran 8 6 0 2 34 4 +30 18 Third round and Asian Cup — 1–0 3–0 3–1 14–0
2  Iraq 8 5 2 1 14 4 +10 17 2–1 — 0–0 2–0 4–1
3  Bahrain 8 4 3 1 15 4 +11 15 Asian Cup qualifying third round 1–0 1–1 — 4–0 8–0
4  Hong Kong 8 1 2 5 4 13 −9 5 0–2 0–1 0–0 — 2–0
5  Cambodia 8 0 1 7 2 44 −42 1 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–10 0–4 0–1 1–1 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group D[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Saudi Arabia Uzbekistan State of Palestine Singapore Yemen
1  Saudi Arabia 8 6 2 0 22 4 +18 20 Third round and Asian Cup — 3–0 5–0 3–0 3–0
2  Uzbekistan 8 5 0 3 18 9 +9 15 Asian Cup qualifying third round 2–3 — 2–0 5–0 5–0
3  Palestine 8 3 1 4 10 10 0 10 0–0 2–0 — 4–0 3–0
4  Singapore 8 2 1 5 7 22 −15 7 0–3 1–3 2–1 — 2–2
5  Yemen 8 1 2 5 6 18 −12 5 2–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group E[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Qatar Oman India Afghanistan Bangladesh
1  Qatar 8 7 1 0 18 1 +17 22 Asian Cup[a] — 2–1 0–0 6–0 5–0
2  Oman 8 6 0 2 16 6 +10 18 Third round and Asian Cup 0–1 — 1–0 3–0 4–1
3  India 8 1 4 3 6 7 −1 7 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–1 1–2 — 1–1 1–1
4  Afghanistan 8 1 3 4 5 15 −10 6 0–1 1–2 1–1 — 1–0
5  Bangladesh 8 0 2 6 3 19 −16 2 0–2 0–3 0–2 1–1 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Qatar already qualified for the World Cup as host nation.

Group F[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Japan Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan Mongolia Myanmar
1  Japan 8 8 0 0 46 2 +44 24 Third round and Asian Cup — 4–1 5–1 6–0 10–0
2  Tajikistan 8 4 1 3 14 12 +2 13 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–3 — 1–0 3–0 4–0
3  Kyrgyzstan 8 3 1 4 19 12 +7 10 0–2 1–1 — 0–1 7–0
4  Mongolia 8 2 0 6 3 27 −24 6 0–14 0–1 1–2 — 1–0
5  Myanmar 8 2 0 6 6 35 −29 6 0–2 4–3 1–8 1–0 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group G[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United Arab Emirates 8 6 0 2 23 7 +16 18 Third round and Asian Cup
2  Vietnam 8 5 2 1 13 5 +8 17
3  Malaysia 8 4 0 4 10 12 −2 12 Asian Cup qualifying third round
4  Thailand 8 2 3 3 9 9 0 9
5  Indonesia 8 0 1 7 5 27 −22 1 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Group H[]

North Korea withdrew from the qualifying round for safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.[27][28]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification South Korea Lebanon Turkmenistan Sri Lanka North Korea
1  South Korea 6 5 1 0 22 1 +21 16 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–1 5–0 8–0 7 Jun
2  Lebanon 6 3 1 2 11 8 +3 10 0–0 — 2–1 3–2 0–0
3  Turkmenistan 6 3 0 3 8 11 −3 9 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–2 3–2 — 2–0 3–1
4  Sri Lanka 6 0 0 6 2 23 −21 0 0–5 0–3 0–2 — 0–1
5  North Korea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrew 0–0 2–0 15 Jun 3 Jun —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Ranking of runner-up teams[]

Because North Korea withdrew from Group H, results against the fifth-placed teams of each group were not counted in determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.[28]

Pos Grp Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 A  China PR 6 4 1 1 16 3 +13 13 World Cup qualifying third round[a]
2 E  Oman 6 4 0 2 9 5 +4 12 World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup
3 C  Iraq 6 3 2 1 6 3 +3 11
4 G  Vietnam 6 3 2 1 6 4 +2 11
5 H  Lebanon 6 3 1 2 11 8 +3 10
6 F  Tajikistan 6 3 1 2 7 8 −1 10 Asian Cup qualifying third round
7 D  Uzbekistan 6 3 0 3 12 9 +3 9
8 B  Kuwait 6 2 2 2 8 6 +2 8
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ China PR already qualified for the Asian Cup as host nation.

Third round[]

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round

The third round consists of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group will qualify for the World Cup. The two third-placed teams proceed to the fourth round. The draw was held on 1 July 2021 in Malaysia.

Group A[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iran 2 2 0 0 4 0 +4 6 Qualification to 2022 FIFA World Cup — 12 Oct 1 Feb 1–0 29 Mar 27 Jan
2  South Korea 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4 24 Mar — 11 Nov 7 Oct 1–0 0–0
3  United Arab Emirates 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 Advance to fourth round 7 Oct 29 Mar — 27 Jan 0–0 12 Oct
4  Syria 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1 16 Nov 1 Feb 1–1 — 12 Oct 29 Mar
5  Lebanon 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1 11 Nov 27 Jan 16 Nov 24 Mar — 1 Feb
6  Iraq 2 0 1 1 0 3 −3 1 0–3 16 Nov 24 Mar 11 Nov 7 Oct —
Updated to match(es) played on 7 September 2021. Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 2 2 0 0 4 0 +4 6 Qualification to 2022 FIFA World Cup — 11 Nov 7 Oct 24 Mar 27 Jan 3–0
2  Saudi Arabia 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 6 29 Mar — 27 Jan 7 Oct 3–1 12 Oct
3  Oman 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3[a] Advance to fourth round 1 Feb 0–1 — 16 Nov 12 Oct 29 Mar
4  Japan 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3[a] 12 Oct 1 Feb 0–1 — 29 Mar 27 Jan
5  Vietnam 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3 0 0–1 16 Nov 24 Mar 11 Nov — 1 Feb
6  China PR 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0 16 Nov 24 Mar 11 Nov 0–1 7 Oct —
Updated to match(es) played on 7 September 2021. Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Head-to-head points: Oman 3, Japan 0.

Fourth round[]

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round

The two third-placed teams in each group from the third round will play against each other in a single match to determine which team advances to the inter-confederation play-offs.

The order of this single leg will be announced during the draw for the third round.

Inter-confederation play-offs[]

The inter-confederation play-offs will be determined by another draw to be held at a later date. They are scheduled to be played in June 2022.

Qualified teams[]

The following teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 Qatar Hosts 2 December 2010 0 (debut)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Top goalscorers[]

There have been 569 goals scored in 180 matches, for an average of 3.16 goals per match (as of 7 September 2021). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.

12 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

Below is full goalscorers lists for all rounds:

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Macau did not send their team for the second leg due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[23] The AFC referred the matter to FIFA,[24] which announced on 27 June 2019 that the match was declared a 3–0 forfeit victory to Sri Lanka, and consequently qualifying Sri Lanka to the second round.[25]

References[]

  1. ^ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup confederation slots maintained". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015.
  2. ^ "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 10 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Pakistan to learn World Cup, Asian Cup qualifying fate on April 17". Dawn.com. 22 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Groups finalised for Qatar 2022 & China 2023 race". Asian Football Confederation. 17 July 2019.
  5. ^ Palmer, Dan (31 July 2017). "Hosts Qatar to compete in qualifying for 2022 World Cup". inside the games.
  6. ^ "Federação Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 20 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Road to Qatar 2022: Asian teams discover Round 1 opponents". Asian Football Confederation. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  8. ^ "FIFA Men's Ranking – April 2019 (AFC)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 April 2019.
  9. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2019" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 21 March 2019.
  10. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 15 May 2019.
  11. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2021" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 24 February 2021.
  12. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2022" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 24 February 2021.
  13. ^ "INTERNATIONAL MATCH CALENDAR 2020-2024" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. February 2021.
  14. ^ "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 9 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 9 March 2020.
  16. ^ "AFC announces proposed dates for upcoming Asian Qualifiers". Asian Football Confederation. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Asia". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  18. ^ "FIFA Council unanimously approves COVID-19 Relief Plan". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 25 June 2020.
  19. ^ "New competition dates approved by AFC Competitions Committee". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 11 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Qatar, Bangladesh to resume Asian Qualifiers in December". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 11 November 2020.
  21. ^ "Update on upcoming Asian Qualifiers in March and June". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  22. ^ "Draw sets out path for Asian aspirants". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 17 April 2019.
  23. ^ "Football - Macau not sending team to Sri Lanka due to security concerns". Reuters. 8 June 2019.
  24. ^ "AFC Statement". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 10 June 2019.
  25. ^ "FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions Macau Football Association". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 27 June 2019.
  26. ^ "Asian Qualifiers draw to provide pathway to Qatar and China". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 17 June 2019.
  27. ^ "Latest update on Asian Qualifiers". Asian Football Confederation. 16 May 2021.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b "Latest decision on Asian Qualifiers". Asian Football Confederation. 27 May 2021.

External links[]

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