KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) " The first qualifying matches to be played for the 2018 World Cup in Russia have been drawn in Asia.
India will host Nepal on March 12 in the pick of six preliminary-round, first-leg matches drawn Tuesday by the Asian Football Confederation.
Sri Lanka will be at home first against Bhutan, which is ranked 209th and last among FIFA member federations.
The other pairings: Yemen vs. Pakistan, East Timor vs. Mongolia, Cambodia vs. Macau, and Taiwan vs. Brunei.
The return matches will be played on March 17.