The Best Team in Asia: 1972 - Present

This is how I view the Asia's best teams through the years. What do you think?

The Best in Each Era

1972 -- 1978

IRAN: winner of 3 consecutive Asian Cups (1968, 1972, 1976), 2 consecutive Olympic qualifications (1972, 1976), the 1974 Asian Games, and the sole qualifier from all of the AFC/OFC for the 1978 World Cup.

Other Notables: (Israel), South Korea.

1978 -- 1984

KUWAIT: 1980 Asian Cup champions and Asia's representative to the 1982 World Cup. Nonetheless, Kuwait's accomplishments were at home, with even their World Cup qualification from a group they hosted. Success, however, begets success and winning the Asian Cup and qualifying for the World Cup, helped Kuwait become the top side in Asia in this period. Iran, however, remained at worst a very close second on merit, even if political troubles and war took much of the spotlight (as well as homefield advantage) away from it.

Other Notables: Iran, South Korea.

1984 -- 1990.

PROBABLY SOUTH KOREA. No Asian team showed cleared dominance. Although Saudi Arabia would win two consecutive Asian Cups in this period, their victory in each instance left a lot of questions. In 1984, their victory over Iran in the semifinal was seen as a major fluke, helped by an Iranian mix up that caused an unnecessary own goal late in the game, taking the match to penalties. In the 1988 Asian Cup, beaten finalist S.Korea had a far better tournament than the Saudis, only losing the final to them on penalty kicks. In this period, I would pick South Korea, one of Asian representatives to the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, as the continent's top team.

Other Notables: Saudi Arabia, Iraq.

1990 -- 1996

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia would not win the 1992 Asian Cup, with the honor going to hosts Japan. But they had made the final again, and then qualified to the 1994 World Cup winning top position in a unified AFC group. And, of course, in 1994, Saudi Arabia became the only Asian team then (since N.Korea in 1966) to make the round of 16 in the World Cup, with victories over Belgium and Morocco. Finally, they won the 1996 Asian Cup, although not without controvery and not looking quite a champion.

Other Notables: South Korea, Japan, UAE.

1996 -- 2002.

Because the 2002 World Cup was co-hosted by two Asian sides, affecting the criteria I have used, I have chosen to sub-divide this period: 1996-2000; 2000-Present.

1996-2000

IRAN. The only title Iran took in this period was the 1998 Asian Games gold medal, but Iran was Asia's best performer in the 1998 World Cup and was generally regarded as the best Asian team in the 1996 Asian Cup.

Other Notables:

Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea.

2000 -- Present

JAPAN. Japan has shown itself as Asia's most articulate side in recent years, winning the 2000 Asian Cup with great style. Although out-performed by co-hosts South Korea in the 2002 World Cup, Japan also advanced to the round of 16 and lost to the same team, Turkey, that defeated the Koreans in the 3rd place match.

Other Notables:

South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran.

 

Bauvafa,

Thanks. Lets hope Iran does as well as some hope. We do have talented youngsters, but the crop from 1996-2000 was quite exceptional, even if not always properly utilized.

junjunforever,

I agree with you about the 2002 World Cup. In that particular tournament, S.Korea outperformed Japan. If I was just going to pick the team for 2002, it would be S.Korea without a doubt. But the period I examined includes more than the 2002 World Cup, going back to the 2000 Asian Cup. Overall, for that period, Japan was Asia's best.

I don't agree with you about S.Korea in 1996-1998. Winning a qualification group, where you basically defeated Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the UAE, while spliting your matches against Japan, is not enough to rate S.Korea as Asia's best team.

Except for Japan's rise towards the end of the qualifiers, where they began doing much better, the other sides in that group were not that good.

All this is more true when you consider S.Korea's horrendous 1996 Asian Cup experience, as well as their foregetable World Cup 98 games. When all that is put in the balance, I wouldn't pick South Korea as Asia's top team in that period. There are some who did, mostly from outside of Asia, whose knowledge of Asian teams was derived mostly from what they saw every 4 years. And what they saw was S.Korea making it to the tournament consistently, whereas others would not.

The reason for that anamoly, particularly taking into account the fact that S.Korea's record in the World Cup itself --- until 2002 -- was not better than many Asian teams that had made, is found somewhere other than the Koreans not caring about the Asian Cup. The real reason for S.Korea's successive success, IMO, is that they have been almost always "one of the best" .

Besides, history shows that teams that succeed in one tournament, generally find a tradition that helps bring further success later in the same tournament. For S.Korea's, the successful tournament has been the the World Cup Qualifiers. But even then, no one should think that the Koreans were necessarily dominating the AFC in qualifying to the World Cup. In fact, only ONCE has S.Korea WON an All-Asia, unified, final qualifying group: in 1989 for the 1990 World Cup.

Interestingly, that time period also corresponds neatly with S.Korea's best Asian Cup in recent memory: the 1988 Asian Cup. In that Asian Cup, S.Korea went without a loss and finished second, only losing the final to Saudi Arabia on penalties.

 

WuTang,

Yes.

For the 1978 World Cup, Iran won a unified final qualifying group with a record of 6 wins and 2 draws in a home-away format, without a single loss throughout the prelminary or final qualifying. In that year, the AFC and the OFC combined were allowed only 1 representative for the World Cup, which meant that Iran finished on top with Australia in the group as well the top Asian teams.

For the 1982 World Cup, the AFC was allowed only 1 team to represent it, although the OFC was not included. Kuwait won the group, albeit the format was not home-away but saw the group in Kuwait.

For the 1990 World Cup, S.Korea won a unified final group, with 3 wins and draws, with UAE finishing second. The top 2 went to the World Cup.

For the 1994 World Cup, Saudi Arabia won a unified final group, with South Korea finishing second. The top 2 went to the World Cup. The contest that year, in fact, was very close, with a late goal by Iraq against Japan in the last match as I recall booking S.Korea's ticket at Japan's expense.

In other years, the qualifiers didn't feature a single group. For the 1986 World Cup, in fact, S.Korea's road was quite an easy one. You had to win a group with a bunch of minnows, the strongest of which was Malaysia which actually beat S.Korea in the first game. Then all you had to do was beat Indonesia and then Japan -- neither top Asian teams at the time.

When I look at all these results carefully, I find S.Korea's closest to being the best in Asia in the late 1980s. That is the one time that you did win a unified final qualifying group (1989 for the 1990 World Cup). It is also the time period where you had a very strong showing in the Asian Cup, being unfortunate to lose the final on penalties but finishing with a better record than the champions Saudi Arabia.

 

Standings for the 1978 Qualifiers:
Home-Away format

(Country, Wins, Draws, Losses, Points, GD)

WCQ for 1978 WC (teams in CAP qualified)

1. IRAN............6...2...0...14...+9
2. Korea Rep.... 3...4...1...10...+4
3. Kuwait.........4...1...3....9....+5
4. Australia.......3...1...4....8....+7
5. Hong Kong....0..0...8....0....-21

Standings for the 1982 Qualifiers:
All Games Played in Kuwait (Centralized format)

*Note: Iran boycotted the qualifiers for 1982 and 1986 after an AFC decision that Iran would not be allowed to host any games due to the war

WCQ for 1982 World Cup (teams in CAP qualified)

1. KUWAIT.....3....0....0...6...+12
2. Korea Rep..2....0....1...4....+3
3. Malaysia....0....1....2...1....-5
4. Thailand....0....1....2...1...-10

Standings for the 1990 Qualifiers:
Draw determined Venue/Homeside

WCQ for 1990 World Cup (teams in CAPS qualified)

1. KOREA REP...3...2..0...8....+4
2. UAE............1...4..0...6....+1
3. Qatar..........1...3..1...4....-1
4. China...........2..0...3..4....-1
5. Saudi Arabia..1..2..2...4....-3

Standings for the 1994 Qualifiers:
All Matches in Qatar (Centralized Venue)

WCQ for 1990 World Cup (teams in CAPS qualified)

1. SAUDI ARABIA....2...3...0...7...+2
2. KOREA REP........2...2...1...6....+5
3. Japan...............2...2...1...5....+3
4. Iraq.................1...3...1...5....0
5. Iran.................2...0...3...4....-3
6. N.Korea............1...0...4...2....-7

 

Korean Football,

The Japan that beat Iran after 120 minutes in Malaysia beat an Iran team that: (a) was in turmoil, with a new coach picked right before the match; and (b) missing 2 critical players due to suspensions, including its then best player Bagheri. Besides the fact that the Japanese had the stadium filled, and it was a home game for Japan practically, the other point is that Japan had already improved dramatically towards the end of the qualifiers. In that form, their results were as good as S.Korea's, and it was only in their early stages under a different coach that they had done poorly.

In AG98, S.Korea's team is one I know well at the time, thanks to many Korean fans who shared information about it, including WuTang. It definitely was NOT a U21 side, as only Japan took that kind of team to the tournament. You had 5-6 World Cup98 players in your roster in fact, although I know you had a lot of young players too. Iran had 10 players from its World Cup squad on its roster, and 10 who weren't. Our typical starting lineup had 7 WC98 players, and 4 new faces. We took a more veteran side, but please don't lie about your team. That is childish bravado.

S.Korea split its matches against Japan, winning one and losing one, in those qualifiers. The other teams it beat were junk. Two of them Iran actually met in AG98: We beat Kazakhstan 2:0 in the group stage, and Uzbekistan 4:0 in the quarterfinal of that tournament. The other one, the UAE, didn't do anything afterwards, failing in AG98, failing to even qualify for Asian Cup 2000.

The 1996-2000 period includes the 1996 Asian Cup. I have seen the Iran v. SKorea 6:2 match, albeit recently on tape. I understand a Saudi claiming that their team outperformed Iran in this period, but you have to be lost in your mind to claim S.Korea had done anything (in any serious tournament) other than beat Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the UAE in that entire period, and to draw Belgium after losing back to back games in WC98.

A period that includes S.Korea losing 6:2 to Iran. Losing 5:0 to Holland. Please.

 

As for Asia before 1972, I didn't talk much about it only because my knowledge about it isn't sufficient. I know Iran won the 1968 Asian Cup, and I also know that all S.Korea's won its only 2 Asian Cup trophies in the 1950s.

In general, based on the limited knowledge I have, and considering that Asian football was quite undeveloped at the time, with only 4-5 teams really competing in the Asian Cup, the top sides in that period appear to me to have been the following: S.Korea and Israel, with N.Korea's success in 1966 certainly worthy of mention too.

 

Korean Football,

You are obviously entitled to rank the teams as you wish.

I didn't use any officially age restricted tournament. Personally, I don't see any use for that. In this regard, unlike AG02, AG98 was NOT an age restricted tournament. S.Korea's side had 5-6 World Cup 98 players starting, not just Choi. In fact, while your coach picked young defenders, I recall the other lines being more or less veteran, including your goalie being from WC98.

As for the 2000 Asian Cup, that is not included in the period, with that tourney marking the next phase in my breakdown.

Ultimately, these are subjective ranking and ratings. But I don't agree at all that S.Korea's senior team accomplished anything to be worthy of being called Asia's best team in that period. The only South Korean accomplishment was winning an easy group to qualify for the World Cup. Otherwise, you had a miserable showing in the continent's championships (both Asian Cup 96, as well as AG98 which admitedly didn't rank as high as the Asian Cup).

BTW, yes, S.Korea had already qualified when it lost to Japan in the WC98 qualifiers, but S.Korea takes even friendlies against Japan seriously. Japan's record in the first leg of the qualifiers was VERY different than the latter stages, where they essentially rolled over the subpar teams that had earlier stopped them.

In Iran's case, it was exactly the reverse: we had a great first leg, and then went through self-destruction. Essentially, Japan met Iran when the two were heading at opposite directions.

Iran was able to correct its course eventually, and in time for World Cup 98. Thereafter, until 2000, it was generally regarded as Asia's top team. Afterwards, from the 2000 Asian Cup to the 2002 World Cup at least, that acclaid went to Japan.

 

Korean Football,

I find your analysis mostly polemical and silly.

First, on your point that no one in S.Korea viewed Iran as number one in Asia in this period, notwithstanding your 6:2 loss to Iran in the Asian Cup, here are comments by S.Korea's captain Hong Myung Bo in its opposite:

http://www.asian-football.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp:402239:39913+ac/2000/mrel/news+17583+E

Second, the strength of the two groups in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers cannot be judged by a single game between Iran and Japan. Specially, not when that game went to double overtime, turning into an endurance contest in Malaysia's heat and humidity, only to be decided on a golden goal in the 120th minute! (We did, incidentally, play Japan again after that match, in Japan, and dominated the match in a 1:1 draw.)

Besides, the Japan team that Iran met in our playoff was on a roll at the time, not necessarily comparable to the Japan side that earlier had dropped points to allow S.Korea to win Group B. As I recall, before meeting Iran, in its last 3 games, Japan had defeated Uzbekistan something like 5:1, S.Korea 2:0, and the UAE 3:1. Against these same very teams, the Japanese had struggled in the first leg and had failed to win.

There was no real comparison between Group B and Group A, and even the AFC news release indicated as much ater the draw for these groups.

Lastly, I undestand why you would want to discuss Olympic qualification, which is an under 21 event, but that doesn't help your case in my eyes. The discussion here is about the best senior teams in Asia in the 1996-2000 period. S.Korea's results and records overall were quite undistinguished. Not only S.Korea didn't win any of the continental titles that still existed at the time (AC96, AG98), but it did very poorly in both. And S.Korea didn't do well in WC98 either.

P.S.

So you don't think I am engaging in an anti-S.Korean rant, let me be clear on the following:

1) S.Korea has almost always been one of Asia's best teams;

2) IMO, despite losing the final in the 1988 Asian Cup, S.Korea was the best team in Asia in the late 80s.

3) S.Korea made all of Asia proud by its performance in World Cup 2002, notwithstanding some controversy in some of the games.

4) I am not old enough to have real knowledge of Asian soccer before 1972, but if you prefer, I have no problem taking your word that S.Korea was Asia's best team in the 1950s or even the 1960s. (If I wanted to just highlight Iran's team, I would have started in 1968 -- the year we won our first Asian Cup).

 

junjunforever,

I am not claiming Iran was "dominant" in the 1996-2000 period. In fact, as much as I hate to say it, if you went just by "counting" trophies, Saudi Arabia would be the side to pick as the "best" in that time frame. They won, albeit unconviningly, the 1996 Asian Cup. They also qualified to the World Cup on top of Group A, again not in convincing manner. And they had a similar World Cup as S.Korea; in fact with a better marginally better record on goal difference.

The only time that an Asian team has been close to being genuinely dominant in the continent, was Iran's team in the 1970s. That Iranian team did NOT lose a SINGLE game to ANY Asian team after 1973. It won 3 consecutive Asian Cup in 1968, 1972, and 1976 -- all of them in tourneys where it won each and every match. In fact, in the 1976 Asian Cup, Iran didn't even allow a single goal.

That team also qualified for the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, at a time when the Olympics were NOT an age restricted tournament. In Asia, and some other regions, the Olympic tournaments involved the national teams of the competing countries.

That team also won the 1974 Asian Games, as well as its Asian group for the 1973 World Cup qualifiers. It didn't qualify for the 1974 World Cup, however, after losing 3:2 on aggregates to OFC's Australia.

4 years later, however, Iran would even redeem its loss to Australia, beating them both home and away as we qualified for the 1978 World Cup as the ONLY team from the AFC/OFC combined to qualify for the World Cup. We did so without a single loss in the qualifiers -- and taking the top position in a unified group that included among others S.Korea and Australia, as well as an emerging Kuwaiti team.

That is what domination in Asia would look like!

 

junjunforever,

The domination I referred to is of course winning all the tournaments, Asian Cup (3 consecutive times from 1968-1976), Asian Games, non-age restricted, national team, Olympic qualifiers (1972, 1976), Asian World Cup qualifying groups for WC74 and WC78. And not losing even once, home or away, friendly or otherwise, to an Asian team over a span of many years.

I, of course, would never agree that a team that has failed miserably in the continental championships, can regard itself as the best in Asia merely because it has won a World Cup qualifying group -- particulalry one where you only face and defeat Uzbekistan, Kazkahstan and the UAE, splitting your games with Japan.

There is also a huge world of difference between a side like Iran in the 1970s winning everything in sight, and not losing a single match in years, and a side that loses 6:2 to Iran and loses to Kuwait in the continental championships (AC96), or loses to Turkeministan and then 9 man Thailand in AG98.

I don't want to bash S.Korea. You were indeed Asia's best team in 2002 and made all of Asia proud. But I don't think you should claim honors you haven't remotely earned. Between 1996-2000, S.Korea IMO had a pretty undistinguished team. You have had far more accomplished sides in the past, and you will have them also in your future as well.

P.S.

The only time S.Korea has actually WON a UNIFIED continental World Cup qualifying group, e.g. in 1989 for WC90, it has also shown itself Asia's strongest side in the Asian Cup (e.g. AC88). That should tell you that your performance has never really been that different in World Cup qualifiers as opposed to the Asian Cup. Rather, the opponents have been different!