This draw will take place in Sydney Opera House on 26 March 2014. The seeding has been revealed prior to this draw: POT 1 Australia (hosts) Iran Japan Uzbekistan POT 2 S Korea Saudi Arabia UAE Jordan POT 3 Qatar Iraq China Oman POT 4 Bahrain N Korea Kuwait Challenge Cup Winner
Meh, we really need to get Newzealand in AFC. All the teams look and sound way too familiar for my likings. I would say pot 3 has the lowest standard divination in terms of strength. So that alone kind of kills any groups of death scenarios. Already disappointed in this tournament. Looking forward to the the Australian beaches though.
So only 2 changes from the previous edition; Oman replaces Syria and India to be replaced by another developing nation. Just highlights the effects of AFC's caste system.
its just FIFA rankings - not necessarily the direction the AFC will go. it may well be the performance ranking from the 2011 AFC Asian Cup :
I hope they will use the performance ranking of the 2011 edition. 1 Japan 2 Australia 3 Korea Republic 4 Uzbekistan 5 Iran 6 Iraq 7 Qatar 8 Jordan 9 China PR 10 Bahrain 11 Syria 12 Korea DPR 13 United Arab Emirates 14 Kuwait 15 Saudi Arabia 16 India 17 Oman 18 Yemen 19 Thailand 20 Singapore 21 Vietnam 22 Indonesia 23 Lebanon 24 Hong Kong 25 Malaysia 26 Maldives
Well IRIB Sport Channel's (Iran TV channel)news have said the seeding is based on the FIFA Rankings from March, according to AFC. I could not find an English article of it yet. I'm pretty sure this will be the seed. If not, I will edit the thread IF I find out it's based on ranking of the 2011 edition.
I hope it's not true. I have a feeling that Iraq will be drawn in the group of death. Dream scenario: Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, North Korea Horror scenario: Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Kuwait
The seedings are as follows: Pot 1 (teams ranked 1-4): Australia, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan Pot 2 (teams ranked 5-8): Korea Republic, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia Pot 3 (teams ranked 9-12): Oman, China, Qatar, Iraq Pot 4 (teams ranked 13-16): Bahrain, Kuwait, DPR Korea and Challenge Cup 2014 winners. http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournamen...6-asian-cup-2015-draw-mechanism-revealed.html
For Iran, I want Korea Republic or Saudi Arabia from Pot 2, Iraq or China from Pot 3, and Bahrain or Korea DPR from Pot 4. I want us to be in the group of death; no guts, no glory, bring it on.
I want Iran to face some good competition and be able to come out on top of the group head and shoulders. Big confidence booster for KO stages. Ideally this would be great: Iran Saudi China Any team from pot 4.
Why is that good? A group with 2 Asian powerhouses (Iran + SK) and a dark horse in Iraq is already deadly.
Yes, I love grudge matches with rivalries. South Korea is a footballing rival and they want revenge, Saudi Arabia is a regional rival, and China and Bahrain, it just feels good to spank them yet again for 2004 AC and 2002 WCQs.
Football is generally played in summer (Oct-April) in Australia to avoid clashing with the more popular winter sports of Aussie rules, rugby league and union. As all of the stadiums for the Asian Cup are used for rugby league and union in winter, it would be impossible for the stadiums to be used exclusively for football during June/July. And Australia is much better any way to visit in summer than winter.
For reference purposes the Challenge Cup 2014 contenders are Maldives Afghanistan Myanmar Palestine Laos Kyrgyzstan Philippines Turkmenistan Turkmenistan, Philippines, and Palestine are the strongest contenders of the title, but given recent results of the other teams, it will be an open ball game altogether.