East Asia and West Asia will compete at the 2023 Asian Cup.

WEST ASIA IS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER IN TERMS OF MONEY

The very first detail – the 2023 Asian Cup (or Asian Football Championship) being postponed to early 2024 and held in Qatar – speaks volumes about the financial strength of West Asian countries. The tournament was originally planned to take place in China from June 16th to July 16th, 2023. China withdrew, and the AFC chose Qatar as the host nation for the tournament, which was postponed to January 2024. Qatar easily beat Australia, Indonesia, and South Korea in the race to replace China as host. The reason is simple: even if they weren't particularly enthusiastic, Qatar still proved to be far superior to their East Asian rivals in terms of infrastructure, stadiums, and generally all factors related to… money. After all, Qatar successfully hosted the 2022 World Cup!

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are two other wealthy representatives of the West Asian region. Without the same wealth as Saudi Arabia, it would be difficult to afford Roberto Mancini, the coach who won EURO 2020 (with the Italian national team).

Đông Á và Tây Á tranh hùng tại Asian Cup 2023- Ảnh 1. — Japan *(right)* and Iran, two strong contenders for the 2023 Asian Cup title.

The arrival of players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Neymar, N'Golo Kante, Sadio Mane, Kadilou Koulibaly, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson… has certainly made the Saudi Arabian Pro-League much more attractive. When assessing the overall strength of a football nation, people often look at the level of its national league as a crucial foundation.

EAST ASIA HAS MANY EXCELLENT PLAYERS

But of course, football isn't just about money. Professional ability remains the deciding factor, and that's why Qatar – despite all the best possible preparation – still lost all three group stage matches when hosting the 2022 World Cup. Having only appointed coach Tintin Marque just over a month ago, host nation Qatar is not highly rated at the 2023 Asian Cup. They are ranked below the two most promising West Asian representatives in Sky Bet's odds for the championship: Saudi Arabia (11/2, meaning a bet of 2 wins 11) and Iran (13/2). The highest chances of winning before kick-off belonged to Japan (2/1) and South Korea (9/2); Australia (13/2) was rated on par with Iran.

East Asian teams excel in individual skill, with dozens of top players competing at the highest levels of European football. This is where East Asia surpasses West Asia. South Korea has the only Asian player included in France Football's 2023 Ballon d'Or nominations – but it's not star Son Heung-min (it's Kim Min-jae, the best defender in Serie A last season, currently playing for Bayern Munich). Wataru Endo and Takehiro Tomiyasu of Japan play for Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively. And that's just a brief overview of the well-known clubs. The number of Japanese, Korean, and Australian players competing in major European leagues is countless. Indonesia also has some. Conversely, West Asia only has two notable examples: Iranian national team players Mehdi Taremi (Porto) and Sardar Azmoun (AS Roma).

Four different teams have won the last four Asian Cups (Iraq in 2007, Japan in 2011, Australia in 2015, Qatar in 2019), with Iraq and Qatar's victories being major surprises. This highlights that the Asian Cup is one of the most unpredictable events in top-level football. Aside from the first two tournaments (1956 and 1960), which were very rudimentary with only four teams each, South Korea has virtually never won the Asian Cup in the modern era. It has also been 48 years since Iran last won the title!

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