LA Galaxy defender A.J. DeLaGarza and the Guam National Team learned that they'll their opponents for their first-ever foray into World Cup qualifying as the Asian Federation announced the eight groups that will 40 teams that will complete in the second round of 2018 World Cup qualifying.
DeLaGarza and Guam find themselves placed in Group D alongside Iran, India, Oman and Turkmenistan. The winner of each group receives an automatic berth to the next round of World Cup qualifying and will be joined by the top four second place teams across the eight groups. The remaining teams that do not continue in the quest for a place in the World Cup will enter various levels of qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Matao open their first-ever World Cup qualifying campaign with two home matches as they host Turkmenistan on June 11 in Guam before taking on India on June 16. Should DeLaGarza join the squad for the start of World Cup qualifying, he'd likely miss the Galaxy's June 13 road match against the Columbus Crew.
