Four teams qualified for the round of 16 because of the best third position. There are Syria, Palestine, Indonesia and Jordan. Their luck is that in the round of 16 there will be a knockout system. The team that wins, has the right to continue the struggle.
Its just feels weird to have best of the 3rd place in the group to qualify but oh well this is Asian Cup so Im not really expecting any other country aside from Japan and South Korea to actually make it to top 3 atleast. Anyway, I didnt pay any attention before and its surprising that Australia in on Asia Cup despite that they are not really on Asia continent.
Well they are not on europe or any other continent as well but still its weird
Yeah, I would also be surprised if the team that ranked 3rd in the group phase qualified. but this is normal, considering that there are not as many participants in the Asian Cup competition as the World Cup. talking about Japan and South Korea, as you said at least Japan and South Korea can reach the top 3 rankings. or, maybe they did it on purpose, not showing a real game during the group phase. Speaking of Australia, Australia has long been part of the Asian continent. even though they are actually not related at all, we have actually discussed this review in several posts before the competition was held.
Talking about candidates, it seems that Iraq is one of the teams being considered that has the possibility of becoming a title contender besides Japan and South Korea. apart from that, Iran and Saudi Arabia should not be underestimated either. however, as I said in many posts before the Asian Cup was held, Qatar has the potential to defend their title for the second time in the Asian Cup. Moreover, Qatar achieved perfect points without even conceding a goal. In fact, there is still the same Thai team squad that hasn't conceded a goal. However, in terms of performance, they are inferior to what Qatar did. In this competition, only two are my predicted candidates to win the Asian Cup trophy. if not Qatar, it means South Korea. well, let's just enjoy the matches that will be presented at this championship.