South Korea are looking to be the first team to complete a three-peat here in the Asian Games, which means that they have a huge target on their backs when the 2023 edition of this tournament begins next week in Hangzhou, China.
Being the defending champions, the early Asian Games 2023 odds say that the Taeguk Warriors should at least make another deep run in this competition.
There are six groups in this tournament, and the top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams will advance to the Round of 16.
Read more below as SBOTOP offers a sneak peek at this quadrennial tournament.
Group A: China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India
A look at the FIFA men’s rankings will tell you that China and India will likely finish on top of Group A since they are ranked 80th and 99th, respectively, while Myanmar and Bangladesh are 160th and 189th.
China are coming into this tournament in decent form, with two wins, two draws, and one loss in their recent friendlies.
Wu Lei is undoubtedly the star man for China. The former Espanyol striker is the country’s second-all-time leading goalscorer with 30 goals in 83 caps, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he’ll be part of the Asian Games 2023 highlights reel.
Meanwhile, India weren’t able to participate in 2018 because the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) decided not to send the team due to their failure to rank inside the Top 8 in Asia. But now they’re back, much to the delight of their fans.
Group B: Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mongolia
In Group B, Saudi Arabia (54th) and Vietnam (95th) are the favourites to progress to the Round of 16.
Saudi Arabia have made a huge jump in the rankings because of the influx of talent in the Saudi Pro League. And with Roberto Mancini at the helm, although they lost their first summer friendly against Costa Rica, they are just getting started.
Vietnam, on the other hand, have only lost one game across all competitions since last year (W10, D3, L1), with the said loss being the AFF Championship final against Thailand.
There aren’t many household names from Vietnam, but Nguyen Van Tung has the potential to break out in this upcoming tournament. The 22-year-old striker now has 11 goals in 22 appearances for Vietnam.
Group C: Uzbekistan, Syria, Hong Kong, Afghanistan
Uzbekistan are still looking for their second Asian Games trophy in their team’s history. The White Wolves shocked the world when they first won it in 1994, beating China 4-2 in the final.
Prior to their recent friendly loss against the USA, Uzbekistan have fared well this year with four wins, one loss, and one draw.
Syria are the other favourites to come out of Group C despite their lacklustre form recently, with only one victory in their last five games. The Qasioun Eagles aim to improve from their highest-ever finish last time, when they ended up as the sixth-best team.
Group D: Japan, Palestine, Qatar
Japan are easily the favourites in Group D because they’re the most stacked team in this group, despite not having most of their European contingent in this tournament.
Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo will get his chance to lead Samurai Blue to the promise land for the first time since 2010, while Kein Sato and Naoki Kumata will join him in Japan’s final third.
Because there are only three teams in Group D, unlike other groups, Palestine and Qatar can also make it to the Round of 16, although certain things need to fall into place.
Group E: South Korea, Bahrain, Thailand, Kuwait
Even if they have yet to win a game since the arrival of Jurgen Klinsmann, South Korea remain the prohibitive favourites in the Asian Games.
PSG’s Lee Kang-In and VfB Stuttgart’s Jeong Woo-Yeong were called up to lead this team in their title defence. Lee was absent in their last two friendlies due to a thigh injury, so this is great news for the Taeguk Warriors.
Bahrain have a decent chance of advancing to the Round of 16, which they did in 2018 despite having two group stage losses.
Group F: North Korea, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Chinese Taipei
Group F figures to be the free-for-all group in this year’s Asian Games.
Based on the updated FIFA men’s rankings, Kyrgyzstan (97th) would likely finish on top of this group, with Indonesia (150th) and Chinese Taipei (153rd) battling for the second spot. North Korea are not even ranked inside the Top 200, but count them out at your own risk.
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