Asian Cup 2023 Championship Candidates: Japan is stronger than Korea, Iran

Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia and Saudi Arabia are the "Big Five" of Asian football. These five teams have almost no opponents in continental tournaments, and they have continuously appeared in the World Cup finals for many years.

These five teams have won 13 out of 17 Asian championships throughout the history of this tournament, up to the 2023 Asian Cup.

Japan has the richest tradition in Asia with 4 Asian Cup championships (Photo: FAT).

Only four other teams have won the Asian Cup, including Israel (1964), Kuwait (1980), Iraq (2007) and Qatar (2019). Of these, the victories of Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar were many surprises.

Even when Qatar won the tournament in 2019, many people still did not rank Qatar on par with the "Big Five" of Asian football, but only saw it as a temporary form of the team at that time, which really wanted to make a splash before hosting the 2022 World Cup at home.

Only one team that has won the Asian Cup in the past is ranked alongside Japan, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia, and that is Israel. However, Israel was forced to move to Europe as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

For the past 64 years, star Son Heung Min's South Korea has not returned to the Asian championship (Photo: Getty).

Among the giants still playing in Asia, Japan is the most highly rated. They are the best ranked Asian team in the FIFA rankings (ranked 17th in the world ). Japan's ranking is higher than Iran (ranked 21st in the world), South Korea (ranked 23rd in the world), Australia (ranked 25th) and Saudi Arabia (ranked 56th).

Traditionally, Japan has also led Asia. The Land of the Rising Sun has won the continental championship four times, Saudi Arabia and Iran have won three times each. South Korea has won twice, and Australia has won once.

In particular, since 1976, that is, nearly half a century, Iran has not returned to the Asian Cup championship. For Korea, this statistic is even worse. The last time Korea won the Asian championship was in 1960. After 64 years, up to this year's tournament, the Korean team was almost harmless to the giants in Asia.

On the contrary, Japan has been in extremely good form, both in the short term and in the long term. In the short term, from June 2023 to now, Japan has played 10 international matches, including friendlies and World Cup qualifiers, and won all 10.

From 1992 to present, Japan has won the Asian Cup 4 times, on average every 8 years they win once (Photo: FAT).

In those 10 wins, Japan scored a total of 45 goals (an average of 4.5 goals per match), and only conceded 6 goals (an average of 0.6 goals per match).

As for long-term performance, from 1992 until now, Japan has won 4 Asian Cup championships. On average, Japan wins the Asian championship once every 8 years.

This number compared to Korea's 64 years without a championship and Iran's 48 years without a championship is a world apart.

The team often compared to Japan, South Korea, may have a few more famous stars, such as Song Heung Min at Tottenham (England), or Lee Kang In at PSG (France), but Japan's squad is more balanced.

Japan entered the Asian Cup with a squad of 20 players playing in Europe (out of a total of 21 players playing abroad), while the corresponding number for Korea was only 12 players playing in Europe.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/ung-cu-vien-vo-dich-cua-asian-cup-2023-nhat-ban-manh-hon-han-quoc-iran-20240112122323756.htm