I have been meaning to put this together for a while and had some time and patience this morning at work and said why not! Asian cup has been taking place since 1956 and you can see the number of teams and champions listed below. This will be the 17th edition.
Number of Teams Champion
1956 .....
4 ..... Korea
1960 .....
4 ..... Korea
1964 .....
4 ..... Israel
1968 .....
5 ..... Iran
1972 .....
5 ..... Iran
1976 .....
6 ..... Iran
1980 .....
10 ..... Kuwait
1984 .....
10 ..... Saudi
1988 .....
10 ..... Saudi
1992 .....
8 ..... Japan
1996 .....
12 ..... Saudi
2000 .....
12 ..... Japan
2004 .....
16 ..... Japan
2007 .....
16 ..... Iraq
2011 .....
16 ..... Japan
2015 .....
16 ..... Australia
2019 .....
24 ..... ???
As you can see Japan is the most decorated team with 4 championships and Iran and Saudi each have 3 to their names.
This seems to be the toughest of all Asian Cups as the number of teams has increased to 24 and the first stage will be among 6 groups of 4 teams. The top 2 teams from each group will qualify making 12 teams and the best four 3rd place teams will make up the rest for a total of 16. It’s the first time that there will be a round of 16 in the Asian Cup.
By looking at the brackets Iran is in a very good position and does seem to have an easy path to the Semi Finals if things go according to plan.
This is the Brackets from the 2019 Asian Cup. Scroll up from the link and you can see all the groups as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_AFC_Asian_Cup#Bracket
Iran's group is featured by (Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Yemen). The Iraq game will be a good rematch of what took place 4 years ago. Iran should top her group.
As you can see if Iran tops her group (D) they will face the 3rd place team from either B/E/F
Group B (Australia/Syria/Palestine/Jordan) and most likely it will be either (Jordan/Palestine)
Group E (Saudi/ Qatar/ Lebanon/ N. Korea) and most likely it will be either (Lebanon/ N. Korea)
Group F (Japan/ Uzbekistan/ Oman/ Turkmenistan) and most likely will be (Oman/Turkmenistan)
(Iran vs {Jordan,Palestine,Lebanon, N.Korea, Oman, Turkmenisan) (Round of 16)
In a highly unlikely situation if Iran gets 2nd place in Group (D) they will face the winner of group E (
Saudi/Qatar)
In the next stage of the brackets the winner of this round of 16th match up (Iran) will go to the quarters and will face the (Runner up of Group A vs. Runner up of Group C).
Group A (UAE which are hosts/ Thailand/ India/ Bahrain) and most likely Thailand/Bahrain
Group C (S. Korea/ China/ Krygystan/ Philippines) and most likely S. Korea/China
So technically the winner of (Thailand/Bahrain VERSUS S. Korea/China) will face Iran. I am hoping it will not be S. Korea as we have had problems with them in the past even though we have defeated them every time under CQ and tied and never losing since he took over.
Iran vs {Thailand/Bahrain/S.korea/China) Quarter Finals
If this happens these are the possibilities for the Semis.
In the Semifinals these are the possibilities of the teams Iran will play (Australia/ Saudi/ Qatar/Japan/Uzbekistan). I did not want to get into it too much but based on team strengths and stats my thoughts are Iran will face either (Japan or Australia) which I think are the teams that will meet each other in the quarter. Japan having the best odds of coming up and facing Iran in the Semis.
Iran vs {Australia/Saudi/Qatar/Japan/Uzbekistan} Semi Finals
Hopefully this can be the year Iran can finally bring the title home after 43 years. It will be tough with the number of teams and how the brackets are laid out but I do have to say we seem to have an easier path than some of the others going to the semis.