There are 5 countries that could make a surprise at the 2023 Asian Cup, which SportReviews will discuss in this article. These five countries are dark horse teams that can make the competition in the 2023 Asian Cup even more interesting, including the Indonesian National Team.
The 2023 Asian Cup is the 18th edition of this event and will be held in Qatar, from 12 January to 10 February 2024. The Indonesian national team is also in Group D with Japan, Iraq and Vietnam.
Apart from the Indonesian national team, there are four other countries that could be surprises at the 2023 Asian Cup. So who are they?
Here are 5 countries that can make a surprise at the 2023 Asian Cup:
5. Malaysia
For Malaysia, the 2023 Asian Cup will be their fourth appearance in the tournament. So far, Malaysia’s best achievement has only been in the group phase, which means they always fall faster.
However, now Malaysia looks different with the presence of a coach from South Korea, Kim Pan-gon. It was proven that in the 2026 World Cup Qualifications in the Asia Zone alone, Malaysia was leading Group D thanks to two early wins when they beat Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan.
4. Tajikistan
The 2023 Asian Cup will be Tajikistan’s debut in the biggest football event on the Asian continent. Despite their status as a debutant team, Tajikistan should be watched out for, because they could appear in the 2023 Asian Cup finals after showing a promising performance in the qualifying round.
Take, for example, in the third round of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualification, Tajikistan emerged as the winner of Group F after playing against Kyrgyzstan, Singapore and Myanmar.
3. Vietnam
The Vietnam national team is the best football team in Southeast Asia currently. It has been proven that they can qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup since the second qualifying round.
With their current strength and new coach, namely Philippe Troussier, Vietnam is considered to be able to be a surprise in the 2023 Asian Cup. Previously, Vietnam was able to qualify for the semifinals and achieved fourth place status in the 1956 and 1960 Asian Cups.
2. Thailand
Thailand has quite a sweet history in the Asian Cup. They actually won third place in the 1972 Asian Cup.
Unfortunately, since then Thailand has had difficulty reaching the semifinals again. Even though Thailand has previously played in the Asian Cup seven times.
However, in the 2023 Asian Cup, Thailand is predicted to be able to provide a surprise even though their coach, Alexandre Polking, has just left.
1. Indonesia
In order to provide a surprise at the 2023 Asian Cup, Shin Tae-yong’s team are holding a training camp (TC) in Turkey from 20 December 2023 to 6 January 2024. In the TC session, test matches against Libya and Iran are also scheduled.
All of this is being done so that the Indonesian National Team is ready to face the 2023 Asian Cup. It is hoped that with thorough training, the Garuda squad will not only be a complementary team in the tournament.
Moreover, with the presence of naturalized people, Garuda has now become a team that is quite reckoned with in Asia. Now, with the addition of Justin Hubner, who has just been officially naturalized, Garuda’s defense is even stronger.
This clearly makes the Indonesian national team even more worthy of being taken into account and able to become a dark horse in the 2023 Asian Cup. The Indonesian national team itself has previously played in the Asian Cup four times.
Unfortunately, the Indonesian National Team always falls in the group phase. It is hoped that something similar will not happen at the 2023 Asian Cup.
