Sixteen countries from Asia will begin their quest for a berth in the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be played in Brazil with the first leg of the first round ties of the Asian Zone qualifying matches for the lowest ranked countries to be played on Wednesday. Bangladesh will play against Pakistan on Wednesday evening at the Bangbandu National Stadium in Dhaka while Sri Lanka will take on Philippines in Colombo. Cambodia will play against Laos in Phnom Penh and Afghanistan will take on Palestine on a neutral ground in the Tajikistani city of Tursunzade in the first ever match between the two sides. Malaysia will take on Chinese Taipei and Vietnam will host the match against Macau in Ho Chi Minh City. Timor-Leste will battle it out with Nepal at Kathmandu while Myanmar will face the challenge of playing against Mongolia on home ground. The second leg of the first round qualifying ties will be played on July 3rd from which the eight winners will advance to join 22 higher-ranked sides for the next stage of the qualifying rounds.