The AFC third round of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification was decided by a random draw which was conducted in Durban, South Africa on 25 November 2007.
The round began on 6 February 2008 and finished on 22 June 2008.
The top two countries in each group at the end of the stage progressed to the fourth round, where the ten remaining teams will be divided into two groups of five.
The pots were drawn as follows: Australia South Korea Iran Japan Saudi Arabia Bahrain Uzbekistan Kuwait North Korea China Jordan Iraq Lebanon Oman United Arab Emirates Qatar Syria Thailand Turkmenistan Singapore The 20 teams were split into five groups of four teams each, with all teams playing home and away against each of the other three teams in the group.
The top two teams in each group qualified for the fourth round.