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Being at the forefront of Asian football for a long time, it is hard to assimilate that Iran has never won the AFC Asian Cup since 1976.
The Asian Cup title has been elusive to Iran in the recent past. They perform brilliantly in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers but, when it comes to the continental extravaganza, they falter. In the last three editions, they bowed out in the quarter-finals losing to South Korea in 2007 and 2011 and their arch-rivals Iraq in 2015.
With defensive midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi missing the tournament owing to a foot injury, Majid Hosseini is expected to play a key role. Sardar Azmoun is another player to watch out for. The 23-year-old is a quality forward with plenty of European experience. In Carlos Queiroz, they have a coach with a lot of international experience.
Without much ado, we take a look at the 3 reasons why Iran could win the title.
#3 The highest ranked team in the tournament
The FIFA rankings are a rough estimate of the team's capabilities. Although some countries have climbed their way up the ladder by playing matches with lower-ranked nations, the FIFA rankings are definitely an indicator of a team's quality.
Iran is the highest ranked team heading into the tournament which makes them an automatic favourite to lift the trophy. Team Melli are ranked 29 with no other team even being in the top 40.
Australia is the second-highest ranked team in the AFC Asian Cup, sitting 41st on the totem pole. Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia follow them with 50th, 53rd, and 69th position in the rankings.
Iran's rise in the FIFA rankings is because of a good 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualification campaigns. This very fact should give a huge morale boost to the team.
#2 Brilliant FIFA World Cup campaign
As mentioned before, Iran cruised to the FIFA World Cup with ease. Owing to their superior rankings, they received a bye in the first round and topped their group in the second round with draws against Oman and Turkmenistan being the only dent in an otherwise swift campaign.
In the third round too, they remained undefeated in their group and even earned a victory over the favorites South Korea. They were placed in a tough group alongside Spain and Portugal in Russia. But, they held Cristiano Ronaldo's UEFA Euro winning Portugal and almost pulled off an upset in their 1-0 loss to Spain. A late own goal even earned them a win over African giants Morocco.
Japan was the only Asian team to qualify for the knockout stages but, they had a simpler group comprising of Colombia, Senegal, and Poland. Australia couldn't even muster a single victory and Saudi Arabia only won against a disorganized Egypt. South Korea had a respectable campaign as they ousted defending champions Germany, but they lost their other two matches.
#1 An experienced side
Carlos Queiroz will be missing out only on defensive midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi who plays the pivotal role in their 4-1-4-1 formation. However, that shouldn't concern the team as his replacement Omid Ebrahimi has donned the national jersey 40 times.
The same applies to the other playing positions too. Only four players in their 23-member squad, two of which are goalkeepers, have played less than ten matches. Moreover, their average number of national team caps comes out to be 34.69, only behind UAE's staggering 41.52 and China's 36.13.
It means that when Carlos Queiroz selects his starting eleven, he need not worry about the experience of players. Moreover, all these players are in their top form for the clubs. So, if they could replicate it while playing for the country, Iran would be unstoppable. Sardar Azmoun and Majid Hosseini are definitely the players to play a huge role for them.
