I agree that it's quite a story for them to get there, and didn't realize they had to travel like that. Still pretty frustrated that the two games won't be played at the same time. Would be great to actually see Yemen "qualify live" for the AFC Cup, but as it is they may have already qualified before their game kicks off should Tajikistan in all likelihood lose to Philippines, so not sure if I will go tonight. Don't care to see a friendly, but would like to see a game where the stakes are high
FT Philippines 2-1 Tajikistan Ingreso, P Younghusband P Younghusband makes his 50th goal. Philippines makes Asian Cup
Congrats to Philippines! Wound up going to Yemen vs. Nepal after all.... just was kind of lacked the intensity knowing Yemen had already qualified with that last minute goal. But pulled over 7,000 fans which is quite literally a sellout by Qatar attendance standards with Nepalese being the 2nd biggest population group in Qatar after Indians and a large amount of Yemenese was actually a fun day out.
Thanks. It was nailbiting for the Philippines as they initially fell behind 0-1 because of a penalty kick given up. Fortunately the same player who caused the foul that resulted in the penalty kick goal for Tajikistan, Kevin Ingreso scored on a header a few minutes later to even the score which allowed them to take the lead at the 90'.
Debutants set to shine in UAE 2019 Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Kuala Lumpur: The decision to expand the AFC Asian Cup to 24 teams has had an immediate impact with Kyrgyz Republic, the Philippines and Yemen qualifying for the Finals for the first time in history. A frenetic final day of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 saw DPR Korea, the Philippines and Yemen taking the last three available spots on Tuesday. Kyrgyz Republic ended their campaign with a 2-1 win over India in Group A but they had sealed their place in the Finals after defeating Myanmar 5-1 last Thursday. Join the-AFC.com as we take a look at the three teams who have taken their place among the Continent’s best for next January’s extravaganza in the United Arab Emirates. See also : Al Matari stars in Yemen win March 27 2018 Philippines create history March 27 2018 India top Group A despite defeat to Kyrgyz Republic March 27 2018 Kyrgyz Republic Kyrgyz Republic fully deserve their place in the Finals as they were in unstoppable form from the fourth match onwards in Group A. They opened their campaign with a 1-0 win at home against Macau but were undone when they fell by the same scoreline to India in Bangalore. That was followed by a 2-2 draw with Myanmar in Yangon but come the fourth match, Aleksandr Krestinin's team burst into life. Kyrgyz Republic scored a thrilling 4-3 win over Macau, which meant a win over Myanmar in their next match would seal them a place in the AFC Asian Cup Finals for the first time. Played at the neutral venue of Incheon Stadium in Korea Republic, Kyrgyz Republic were in awesome form as they defeated Myanmar 5-1 to join India as the qualifiers from Group A. Krestinin’s men were not finished yet though as they wrapped up their qualifying campaign by defeating India 2-1 on Tuesday. The margin of victory wasn’t enough to seal top spot in the group, with India finishing ahead on goal difference but that won’t bother Kyrgyz Republic. They have sent a message out that they are a quality side and Asia’s best will be wary of drawing them in May’s draw. The UAE 2019 Cast Philippines From the onset, Philippines were a team on a mission, eager to erase their heartbreak from four years ago when they were just one match away from Australia 2015, only to fall at the finishing hurdle against Palestine in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup. Showing glimpses of their promise in the second round of qualifiers, the Azkals registered impressive victories over DPR Korea, Bahrain and Yemen to finish third in Group H and subsequently rose to an all-time high of 115th in the FIFA World Ranking in May 2016. The Southeast Asian side stormed off the blocks in the final round of the qualifiers, with an inspiring 4-1 home victory over Nepal before edging past Tajikistan in an epic 4-3 thriller in Dushanbe to solidify top spot in Group F after two matches. Three successive draws later, two against Yemen and a goalless stalemate away to Nepal, the Azkals were on the brink of history with just a point against Tajikistan in the final match guaranteeing their place amongst Asia’s elite. Spurred on by a buoyant crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, the home side displayed formidable resilience to come back from a goal down against Tajikistan, courtesy of goals from Philip Younghusband and Kevin Ingreso to clinch a famous 2-1 victory and top spot in Group F. Yemen Yemen will feature in the AFC Asian Cup Finals for the first time since unification and they are sure to be one of the highlights of UAE 2019. Qualification was secured despite having to play their home matches in a neutral venue. Not being able to play in front of their adoring fans only seemed to galvanise them to join the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 cast. It was not an easy qualifying campaign as Yemen, while finishing undefeated, ended with a record of two wins and four draws. Even then, qualification was secured before they defeated Nepal 2-1 in their final Group F match on Tuesday, thanks to the Philippines beating Tajikistan by the same score in their deciding tie. A superior head-to-head against Tajikistan meant Yemen were assured of second place in the group and coach Abraham Mebratu will now be focused on ensuring his players prepare well for next January’s challenge. It won’t be easy as the majority of his players are not playing competitively on a regular basis but having overcome extremely difficult odds to clinch qualification, Yemen will be on a mission to impress in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. http://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-asian-cup/latest/news/afc-asian-cup-intro
Final seeding: Pot 1: UAE - Iran - Australia - Japan - South Korea - Saudi Arabia Pot 2: China - Syria - Kyrgyzstan - Lebanon - Palestine - Oman Pot 3: Uzbekistan - Iraq - India - Qatar - Vietnam - North Korea Pot 4: Philippines - Turkmenistan - Jordan - Bahrain - Yemen - Thailand Is it just me or does pot 3 look stronger than pot 2?
Yep, all this happened because Pot 3 teams UZB, Iraq, Qatar haven't played any official games after the end of WC qualifiers.
Looks about even, on form over the past three years Pot 2 should be China, Syria, Uzbekistan Iraq, Qatar, and Palestine (well the pre-Baldivieso mess version that is). If we keep Baldivieso (and play scared out of our minds) we really need to hope we can avoid Uzbekistan, Qatar, and Iraq. Accepting the $1 million from Saudi and with Baldivieso's employment as a string attached was a major mistake. Do you know that if we didn't schedule that friendly vs. Bahrain and beat Oman Palestine would have been ranked above Japan, Korea, and Saudi Arabia! Not saying we are better than Japan and Korea but we can compete at the highest level in Asia and we need to show up in the UAE with that mentality, have a good tournament and try to get into Pot 1 for the upcoming WCQ draw.
Will be an interesting draw for sure. Asian Cup qualifiers completely changed the rankings, while some countries like Iraq or Uzbekistan suffered from recent friendlies. I'd rather avoid Uzbekistan and Qatar then Kyrgyzstan or Syria
Doing it on my opinion there are 3 pot 3 teams who should be in pot 2. I really wouldn't want to draw both Syria and Uzbekistan in the group stage.
Apart from Syria and China, all teams in pot 2 took part in the Asian Cup qualifiers. There are a lot of teams at the same level in Asia. If you look how qualifiers went 10 years ago and now, there is an huge difference. Vietnam and Palestine were losing by huge scorelines (5-0 and 4-0). You won't see that anymore. Still think that it was a mistake to extend the Asian Cup to 24 teams, but in my opinion the competitiveness has never been this high.
Let's wait and see. I think expansion was a necessary evil due to the fact that the AFC doesn't open up its club competitions. The East/West split and denying access to the CL for many countries. This really might be the only way to get countries to improve. I would have preferred tacking on an extra group of four teams for a 20-team edition or just keeping the 16-team format. We are going to have too many teams that do not belong in a knockout stage of a continental tournament there because they managed to win one game and keep their goal difference down. The best we can hope for is open football and not the conservative, boring display we saw during the expanded 24-team Euros. The 2015 edition was a disaster for the AFC because it presented a challenge in growing the game. China almost missed out (which would have made it worse for the AFC). Now Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines give SEA three participants (up from zero) and India is there (huge boon for the AFC). That said, the shady powers that be are disappointed that they couldn't get even more populous nations in here. Indonesia was suspended, Pakistan and Bangladesh were shambolic and never looked qualifying. Myanmar (the 11th most populous country) fell a the final hurdle but the AFC should be happy enough with China (#1), India (#2), Vietnam (#7), Philippines (#8), and Thailand (#10). That said the expansion really did was grant an opportunity for all WAFF Countries to participate. I don't think expansion of the tournament will address this gap. The teams in the West (and you can include central Asia in that category) are miles ahead of the teams in the East.
According to the latest news all 12 teams qualified to the last stage of WC qualifiers will be in pots 1 and 2 while other 12 teams in pot 3 and 4.
Where did you get this from? Could be a possibility though, as the first two WCQ rounds counted as Asian Cup qualifiers.
I have read it in local media today, they also don't provide any sources for their news. https://championat.asia/uz/news/osi...tni-ozgartirdi-ozbekiston-2-savatchada-boladi EDIT: Other link with latin letters https://championat.asia/oz/news/osi...tni-ozgartirdi-ozbekiston-2-savatchada-boladi
Well, let's hope they'll use this seeding. To be honest it would be more fair towards the 12 teams that made it to the final round. It affected the rankings if you look at teams like Iraq, Uzbekistan and Qatar.
It would be the first CA serious competition! Although many Iranian fans think it is better to send our U23 team to this competition to get enough experience for Olympic from now on.
So Alternative Ranking would be Pot 1: UAE, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Australia Pot 2: Syria, Iraq, Qatar, China, Thailand, Uzbekistan Pot 3: India, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Philippines, Bahrain Pot 4: Korea DPR, Yemen, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam I think either way you seed the teams someone will get the short end of the stick. In this case, Palestine who have lost once in two years, fall to Pot 4. I agree that Uzbekistan, Iraq and Qatar probably shouldn't be ranked below some teams in Pot 2 according to the FIFA ranking BUT they are there having made a choice to play friendlies that effected their FIFA ranking. They knew (or should have known) the risks of playing those matches. FIFA ranking decided seeding since the 2007 Asian Cup. The AFC has used the FIFA ranking to seed all the qualifying draws. I don't see any reason to do away with it now. Every seeding system will have its detractors and one can only hope that the groups are balanced (you don't want to have Kyrgyzstan, India, and Philippines in the same group and Syria, Iraq, Jordan in another group). Personally I want to get in Group B or Group F and finish as a runner up. Then you get to play a runner up in the Round of 16 and the Group A winner in the quarterfinal (most likely UAE who have not been good).
I think it is a bad idea, Iran needs to win the Asian Cup to prove its dominance. Honestly, don't remember when you won it last time.
Past 22 years Iran has been robbed 3 times in 1996, 2004 and 2015. It has less importance for us specially with a corrupt AFC head now. the bias against Iranian clubs and NTs is just too much in AFC. It is not fans problem but political favoritism, tribalism, and corruption in highest level. Aussies, Uzbeks, Palestinians and even Iraqis have been victim of this corruption at some point but not as consistent as Iran. Refereeing has been below standard as well in these competitions. So I think the Idea of sending u23 team is a good one but it depends on our football federation.
According to Iraqi media, FIFA rankings won't be used for the seeding. 12 qualified teams for the WCQ final round are in the first two pots, and the qualified teams for the World Cup are in pot 1. This would be the pots: Pot 1: UAE, Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, South Korea Pot 2: Iraq, Qatar, Syria, Uzbekistan, China, Thailand Pot 3: Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, India, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan Pot 4: Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, North Korea, Philippines, Turkmenistan