Asian Cup: Premier League and Scottish Premiership players to feature in Qatar tournament
- Published
Qatar won the Asian Cup in 2019, beating Japan 3-1 in the final
The Asian Cup takes place in Qatar from 12 January to 10 February with a host of English and Scottish club sides set to be without key players for up to six weeks.
The competition had originally been awarded to China and was set to take place in the summer of 2023, before the country's Covid-19 restrictions led to a change of hosts, with Qatar then awarded the right to stage the tournament.
Just as the 2022 World Cup had been, the event was then moved because of the heat from the summer to the winter.
Seven of the nine venues for the Asian Cup held World Cup matches just over a year ago, with the final again set to be held at the Losail Stadium.
What is the format?
There are 24 nations taking part, with six groups of four. The top two in each section will qualify automatically for the last 16 and will be joined by the four third-placed sides with the best records.
From then on it is a knockout format, ending with the final on 10 February and there is no third-fourth play-off. The group stage lasts from 12-25 January, the last-16 ties are between 28-31 January, the quarter-finals are 2-3 February with the semi-finals on 6 and 7 February.
These are the groups.
Group A: Qatar, China, Tajikistan, Lebanon.
Group B: Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria, India.
Group C: Iran, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Palestine.
Group D: Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, Vietnam.
Group E: South Korea, Malaysia, Jordan, Bahrain.
Group F: Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Oman.
The Losail Stadium before the start of the final of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which Argentina won by beating France 4-3
Which Premier League, Scottish Premiership and EFL players are playing in the Asian Cup?
Australia: Nathaniel Atkinson (Hearts), Keanu Baccus (St Mirren), Martin Boyle (Hibernian), Cameron Burgess (Ipswich), Gethin Jones (Bolton), Riley McGree (Middlesbrough), Lewis Miller (Hibernian), Kye Rowles (Hearts), Samuel Silvera (Middlesbrough), Harry Souttar (Leicester), Marco Tilio (Celtic), Kusini Yengi (Portsmouth).
Hong Kong: Sean Tse (Radcliffe - Northern Premier League, Premier Division).
Indonesia: Elkan Baggott (Ipswich), Justin Hubner (Wolves).
Iran: Saman Ghoddos (Brentford).
Iraq: Ali Al-Hamadi (AFC Wimbledon).
Japan: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal).
Lebanon: Omar Bugiel (AFC Wimbledon).
South Korea: Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves), Kim Ji-soo (Brentford), Oh Hyeon-gyu (Celtic), Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic).
Brendan Rodgers' Celtic will have the most players missing with five absent, while AFC Wimbledon, Brentford, Hearts, Hibernian, Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Wolves all have two players apiece at the tournament.
Arsenal, Bolton, Brighton, Huddersfield, Leicester, Liverpool, Portsmouth, St Mirren and Tottenham all have one player apiece, as do Radcliffe, who play in the Northern Premier League, Premier Division - the seventh tier of English football.
Arsenal's Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu and Tottenham's South Korean forward Son Heung-min are among those selected by their countries in the Asian Cup
How many domestic games will players miss at the Asian Cup?
One of the highest-profile players to be competing in the Asian Cup is Tottenham and South Korea forward Son Heung-min.
He will miss Spurs' Premier League match away at Manchester United on 14 January.
Depending on how far South Korea progress in the tournament, he could also be out of their FA Cup fourth-round tie against Manchester City (date to be confirmed) and Premier League matches against Brentford (31 January), Everton (3 February) and Brighton (10 February).
Liverpool and Japan midfielder Wataru Endo could miss eight matches for the Reds, and was absent for Wednesday's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham.
Wolves and South Korea forward Hwang Hee-chan could be out for five or six club games, depending on the result of their FA Cup third round replay against Brentford, while Arsenal and Japan defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is also missing a significant number of matches.
Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma has been named in Japan's squad, although it remains to be seen if he features at the tournament after Seagulls boss Roberto de Zerbi said his player was injured.
"I'm really surprised because my medical staff told me Mitoma needs four, six weeks for his injury," said De Zerbi, speaking before Tuesday's Premier League goalless draw with West Ham.
"For me, it's difficult to think he can play in the Asian Cup. But I'm a fan of Mitoma, of all my players, so if they can play for their national team I'm very happy and very proud."
The break in the Scottish season has come at a good time for Celtic and Rodgers may only be without his selected players for a maximum of four matches.
Who are the favourites?
Japan, at 17th, are the highest Asian nation in Fifa's world rankings, followed by Iran (21st), South Korea (23rd) and Australia (25th).
Saudi Arabia (56th in the world) recorded a huge shock in the 2022 World Cup when they defeated an Argentina side that went on to win the tournament.
Saudi Arabia were shock 2-1 winners over eventual tournament champions Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Qatar (ranked 58th) are the reigning champions and will be looking to repeat their success on home soil. They are in the same group as Tajikistan, the only nation appearing at the tournament for the first time.
The lowest three ranked nations are Malaysia (130th), Indonesia (146th) and Hong Kong (150th).
Japan have won the tournament four times, one more than Saudi Arabia and Iran. South Korea have won the competition twice with one success for Israel, Kuwait, Australia, Iraq and Qatar.
Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - follow your team and sign up for notifications in the BBC Sport app to make sure you never miss a moment
