Hosts Australia have been named the top seed for the 2015 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup.
The Socceroos will compete in just their third Asian Cup finals next year and will hold the mantle of number one seed after organizers released the draw process on Monday.
Australia will occupy the A1 position of Pot 1 of the four pots ahead of Iran, Japan and Uzbekistan despite the fact they are ranked sixth in the region on the FIFA rankings.
The four highest ranked countries, according to the AFC, will be slotted in Pot 1 with the remaining 12 teams to make up Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4 for the draw which will take place in Sydney next Wednesday.
The 2015 Asian Cup seedings are:
Pot 1 (teams ranked 1-4): Australia, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan Pot 2 (teams ranked 5-8): Korea Republic, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia Pot 3 (teams ranked 9-12): Oman, China, Qatar, Iraq Pot 4 (teams ranked 13-16): Bahrain, Kuwait, DPR Korea and Challenge Cup 2014 winners.
The 2015 Asian Cup takes place in Australia from January 9-31, 2015. Matches will be played in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Newcastle and the capital Canberra.
Australia currently sit sixth behind Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates in FIFA's Asian rankings.
