It's our second successful qualification. We were there in 2015! Lebanon has never qualified (played once as host) but look set to join the party. Yemen has a good chance of getting in too. I've been impressed with both in 2017. We are looking at a very plausible scenario of all the Middle Eastern Nations at the Asian Cup. Half the field could conceivably be a WAFF tournament (remember those?) QUALIFIED Iran Saudi Arabia Qatar UAE Iraq Syria Palestine Oman ONE POINT AWAY Lebanon (10 pts) THREE POINTS AWAY Jordan (8 points) Bahrain (7 points) IN POSITION Yemen (6 points/0 losses)
They should throw in the rule that at most two teams from same regional confederation can play in same group.
Not so sure about that... To be honest the reason for this disparity is because the AFC has done everything in its power to coddle teams from India and Southeast Asia. The way they reorganized the AFC Cup is a glaring example of this. The AFC needs to commit to bringing all of Asia together and it can start by stopping the east v west division in club competition. On top of that, they should do something that grants Asian players equal status as local players in all leagues that allow foreign players. I guarantee if they did that the level of football in Asia would be a lot higher.
Just a minor correction. Iran is no longer a member of WAFF. Because of political pressure, Iran left that AFC sub division and created central Asian sub division along Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. WAFF is an all Arab nations sub division now. Iran and Uzbekistan have already qualified from CAFF.
There is no ME football family. Although Id be ok with some forced variety in groups. Watching Iran play Bahrain,Qatar, UAE made me eyes bleed in 2015.
I'd be happy with some degree of geographical separation at the Asian Cup. With the increase to 24 nations, you might be losing quality in the group stage but you should be gaining variety of nations and styles. There's no point blowing this variety and ending up with groups full of similar teams. While I'm not advocating for full separation based on region, I think it would be good to allow no more than 2 teams from any one region. Happy with 2 teams from Central Asia in the 1 group, just not 3. No need to mandate max 1 team per group even if there are less than 6 qualified nations from a Region.
http://www.the-afc.com/asian-cup-2019/dpr-korea-and-malaysia-matches-to-be-played-in-neutral-venue North Korea vs Malaysia and Malaysia vs North Korea will both be played at the same neutral venue. North Korea ‘home’ match taking place on November 10 and the return fixture – Malaysia’s ‘home’ game – on November 13. Since both countries lose their home games advantage I suppose it is fair. I think AFC will pick Macau. It is about half way between the two and both should find it acceptable. Macau Stadium is not used much so it should be in good condition, too. Hong Kong is also about half way but we are in the same group so we are not neutral as such. We want Malaysia to take points off North Korea.
http://www.thestar.com.my/sport/foo...-malaysia-and-n-korea-to-be-held-in-thailand/ The long postponed 2019 Asian Cup Group B qualifying match between Malaysia and North Korea will take place in Thailand next month. The first match on Nov 10 will be North Korea’s home game while the second match on Nov 13 will be Malaysia’s home fixture.
Buriram I-Mobile Stadium will be the venue of North Korea vs Malaysia on Nov 10. The kick-off time is yet to confirm.
Chinese Taipei flew directly by chartered aircraft from Qatar to Turkmenistan to prepare for the important away match to the hosts. This was the first time in Chinese Taipei football history that the association chartered a aircraft for the national team.
Macau is determined to get their first point in the last home match of the Asian Cup qualifying campaign against Kyrgyzstan. They have been training hard and hope that the local support will help them to achieve it.
Turkmenistan probably heard of this and they moved the match from Ashgabat to Balkanabat. Chinese Taipei team had to spend another 12 hours (domestic flight and bus) to get there. Anyway coach Gary White said the team is determined to win the match for everyone in Taiwan. Tim Chow has gained his Chinese Taipei passport and will make his international debut tonight. Chinese Taipei also recruited Will Donkin, who plays for Crystal Palace U18 for the squad.