It's probably just an irrational response to the political clout that the West Asian (Middle Eastern) countries have in the AFC, but I've so far really enjoyed watching East Asian teams being successful (most of the time) over our West Asian rivals.

Matches so far that involve East vs West:

Aust 4 - Kuwait 1 (1-0 East)
Sth Korea 1 - Oman 0 (2-0 East)
Uzbekistan 1 - Nth Korea 0 (2-1 East)
China 1 - Saudi Arabia 0 (3-1 East)
Japan 4 - Palestine 0 (4-1 East)

So apart from North Korea losing, so far all East Asian teams have won their matches. Now East Asia had less teams qualify, so Group C is solely West Asian and thus the finals will still have many West Asian teams, but I personally am enjoying this.

What's the point - probably none. The non-qualifying East Asian teams still have a long way to go to surpassing the lower ranked WAs who qualified, but it's nice to see EA teams dominating. I hope it will continue throughout the tournament, even just for my irrational political biases (although based on the matches below, I expect WA to probably get another 2 wins against Nth Korea and China)

6 remaining East vs West group matches:

Kuwait vs South Korea
Aus vs Oman
Nth Korea vs Saudi Arabia
China vs Uzbekistan
Japan vs Iraq
Japan vs Jordan

Edited by kamaryn: 12/1/2015 10:04:28 PM

I wouldn't even count Uzbekistan as West Asian, it's very much Central Asia, although I see your point if it absolutely must be either east or west.

Still, I'm calling it 4-0. =;

Edited by paladisious: 13/1/2015 01:41:59 AM

And Qatar getting mauled was funny.

So far UAE, Iran and Iraq are the picks of the West Asian teams and I think as the tournament progresses, any of those 3 can go far so don't count them out yet.

Pleasing to see the East being successful though, which seems to follow the current trend in Asian football.

Interesting you've started a thread based on similar lines to the way I've been thinking, except reaching slightly different conclusions.


Out of 16 teams qualifying for the Asian Cup, 10 are from West Asia. This indicates depth.

Of the fewer East Asian teams, if we count Uzbekistan as one, South Korea, Japan and Australia are in the few teams most likely to win the comp.

There are 9 WAFF countries and 2 CAFF countries (Iran and Uzbeki) if you want to count those as 'west'

In the ACL Uzbekistan teams qualify under west asia. So politically the should be considered west.

Not all of them. When they have the oil countries nick the most spots, it's Uzbek teams they split across to the East.

Bunyodkor played qualifiers and group games in the East zone in 2012 and 2013 (playing against Adelaide in the group stage in the former year).

Some interesting points have been made regarding whether Uzbekistan is east or west.


Of the teams that qualify from the east, although less numerically , they are more likely to be contenders for the title.

However, there is probably greater depth in the west.

from what I have seen thailand and vietnam might be in the top 16 teams in asia

does west asia have an easier qualifying path?

I'm not sure how long that will last given South East Asian countries ramping up their youth development systems to raise the game there. I think one of Thailand or Vietnam could go a lot further in the future than a lowly populated West Asian side.

Excellent point, Socceroos 06.

The oil states have a lot of money for football, but the same cannot be said for Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran.

There is some flash academy set up in Vietnam.

I'm not sure about Thailand's development, but they have improved recently.




Edited by Decentric: 13/1/2015 02:39:27 PM

True about the inevitable rise of South East Asia, and let's not forget that from the next Asian Cup onwards 24 teams will compete .

Edited by paladisious : 13/1/2015 03:22:07 PM

Uzbeks are central asia, 4-0

Jordan were a good side until they decided to employ a coach with inferior tactical ethos. Iran are a future powerhouse of Asia again with many bright young players exhibiting themselves here in Australia. I also think Iraq have a nice production line of quality youngsters and we all know about the great work in UAE.

Lebanon and Syria have not really produced in recent memory.

Qatar, Kuwait & Bahrain are all at risk of being overshadowed by highly populated developing nations such as Thailand & Vietnam as well as the re-emergence of Chinese football.

Correct. Because of this they really are the definition of Central Asia :lol: In 2012 Uzbekistan had 3 teams in the ACL, 1 was placed in East Asia, 2 were placed in West Asia. They generally are moved around by the AFC.

Uzbekistan has a good youth set up. Quarter Final at the Under 20 World Cup, Semi Final at the Under 20 Asian Cups in 2014 and 2012. In 2012 they won the Under 17 Asian Cup, In 2010 they were runners up. Quarters at the 2011 Under 17 World Cup. Had our number at youth level in the past too, I recall a few convincing wins for the Uzbeks against Australia at youth level. In the past they relied on some players developing in the Russian youth systems however they have transferred the knowledge and set up back home. Some Russian coaches ended up working with the youth set up in Uzbekistan as the top Russian clubs are normally filled with Dutch, German, Italians, Argentines as Technical Directors and Youth coaches.

I think for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers Uzbekistan will be very dangerous and strong, they have been close to qualifying in the past but may be even stronger a few years from now.

China got lucky against the Saudis. Both were just as bad as each other.

Go back to the 2010 World Cup - East Asia ruled! In fact there has been a decline in the Arab world in general with only Algeria doing any good. Egypt are the big disappointment, but Morocco have struggled as well. Winning the rights to the World Cup was vital for the improvement in the "region". It would be nice to see Israel return to Asia (but I guess that's unlikely).

As for the rest of Asia I agree that SE Asia is going to challenge, but India are surely the sleeping giants. India needs to do what Qatar and Japan have done in the past and naturalise some South Americans!

0-1 between Kuwait and South Korea makes it 5-zip. :cool:

And now that it has been agreed that Uzbekistan don't count, that beautiful 4-0 Australian victory over Oman makes it 6-0 to East Asia. Glad to see that some others are enjoying it as much as me :)

Good .

I think 16 is not enough.

Interesting post, Vostok.=d>

A lot more interesting than the rubbish you wrote on Anarchy Football.

Meh. Arguments are there to suggest otherwise.

That being said im glad they are expanding. I like fresh styles of football.

Good thread. Wish we (East Asia) had more teams in the Asian Cup though.

Just to settle the East Vs West debate re: Uzbekistan, this is from the AFC:

It should just be guaranteed that at least one from each confed makes the final 16, West confed would still get 5-7 spots after that which is still more than any other confed.

Exchanging an India for a Bahrain and a Thailand for a Palestine or Kuwait would have given this tournament an entirely different meaning and context - such a shame.

Amazed that Thailand couldn't even get a point in their qualifying group with Iran, Kuwait and Lebanon.

And India couldn't even get to the AFC Challenge Cup.

Problem is west Asia's home advantage is relatively huge
So some mediocre teams qualify

Edited by grazorblade: 14/1/2015 08:25:47 PM

This wont be a problem when 24 teams enter next time around.