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The FIFA World Cup is back in Asia with Qatar set to host the 22nd edition of the global showpiece that unites the football world.
The gulf nation will be representing the Arab world while also making their first ever appearance at the World Cup finals. Alongside them will be other Asian teams who are no strangers to the tournament. They will all be looking to make their confederation proud.
This article brings you information about the Asian teams from among the World Cup top favorite teams.
Qatar
Qatar may not be the ideal host because of all the controversy surrounding their plans for the tournament. However, they have managed to show readiness to give players and fans a great atmosphere to play and enjoy football.
They qualified by default as hosts but still played AFC qualifier games. This is because the AFC qualifiers doubled for both the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup. One of the teams Qatar faced was India, who could soon be making an appearance in the FIFA World Cup after getting their act together and back into FIFA’s good books. That match ended in an aggregate scoreline of 1-0 in favor of Qatar.
India is not the best team to measure quality against but Qatar have been able to establish a strong style of play thanks to their Spanish manager, Félix Sanchéz. They will look to cause an upset in Group A where they will take on Ecuador, Senegal and The Netherlands.
Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran, officially known as Iran by FIFA, is a FIFA World Cup regular and one of the stronger Asian teams. Qatar 2022 will be their sixth appearance at the tournament and the first time they will be playing on their continent, having failed to qualify for Korea/Japan 2002.
They finished at the top of both their qualification groups, and in flying colours too. In the second round – which they qualified directly for by virtue of their AFC ranking – they won six and lost two of their eight games. In the third round, they won eight, drew and lost one each of their 10 games, beating South Korea to first place in their group.
They are expected to make a good showing of themselves in Qatar when they face off against England, Wales and the USA in Group B. But bettors will be forgiven for choosing to bet against them in any of these games because they rank low among FIFA World Cup top favourite teams.
Saudi Arabia
Having been described as the “Brazilians of the Desert” in the past, the Green Falcons have been unable to live up to the high praise. However, they have maintained some pride among the AFC teams by qualifying for the FIFA World Cup five times prior to Qatar 2022.
Like Iran, they qualified for the tournament as the best performing team from their groups in the second and third round of AFC qualification. They won six and drew two of their eight second round games; and won seven, drew two and lost one of their 10 third round games. They were, in fact, the best team from the AFC qualifiers.
But it may not be enough to change their history at the FIFA World Cup come November 2022. Argentina, Mexico and Poland are their Group C opponents and none of these teams are on the level of their Asian competition.
Japan
Japan is improving at great speed ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This improvement is sure to cause some concern for their Group E opponents, Spain, Germany and Costa Rica.
Their team is currently built up of a core of players who have transcended the J-League and are performing exploits in Europe’s biggest leagues. It is this reason that makes it a bit of a surprise that they could not top their third round group during the AFC qualifiers. They can take solace in their defense, however, which let in the fewest goals during qualification – six goals in 18 games.
Their form after the qualifiers is what inspires confidence the most. Victories against USA and Ghana, a draw against Ecuador, who are all going to the World Cup, shows that they are capable of causing an upset.
South Korea
South Korea is one of the teams with the most appearances at the World Cup finals in every confederation, having appeared at the finals 10 times. They are set for their 11th appearance in Qatar 2022 and with the crop of players they have in their squad, they could make a splash.
South Korea has a good history in the tournament. Qatar 2022 will be their tenth consecutive appearance. They have also finished in fourth place in the finals after a stellar performance on home soil in 2002. Of all the Asian teams, they will go into the 2022 tournament with their head held highest.
They are in Group G with Portugal, Ghana and Uruguay and bettors can bet on one victory for Heung-Min Son and his teammates in this group. But like the other Asian teams, they are a ways from being a FIFA World Cup top favourite.
