Asian WCQs Group A vs Group B

[PersianLegion]

How do you compare Group A with Group B? Which one is tougher? Which one is more competitive?

I read the comments from fans of Group B claiming their group is a lot harder than ours and if their team was in our group they would have been on top of the group already.

What do you think? Which team from group B could be stronger than Iran or be ahead of us right now, if they were in our group?
I honestly don't see any team beside Japan causing any trouble for us at this stage.

[Tehranto]

I honestly think we would have Japan's number now.

Australia looks like nothing special. Even though before Saudis would always get under our skin, I feel that because we have CQ, we are mentally much more prepared and would have broken them.

All of this is hypothetical though. Fact is, Iran's number 1 Asian team and has been for 2+ years. The rest is other fans not being able to accept how much higher we are than the fray.

[jahandoost]

How do you compare Group A with Group B? Which one is tougher? Which one is more competitive?

I read the comments from fans of Group B claiming their group is a lot harder than ours and if their team was in our group they would have been on top of the group already.

What do you think? Which team from group B could be stronger than Iran or be ahead of us right now, if they were in our group?
I honestly don't see any team beside Japan causing any trouble for us at this stage.

Their talk is cheap, the facts say otherwise...

[PersianLegion]

On paper when we started the WCQs we were stronger group but recently South Korea is on a down turn and Uzbeks have declined compared to their last WCQs. We have been strong and consistent but waste too much opportunities which will bite us later on. At the same time Syria is causing upset in the group despite their situation.

In group B Thailand and Iraq are garbage, UAE started well but regressed back to their usual 2nd tier team very soon. Saudis started very shaky but lucky and stabilized their team along the way to grab the top spot. Australian doesn't look promising to be honest. I expected much more from them specially after winning AC 2015. They usually bounce back and qualify but I am not sure it is the case this time. Saudis and Japanese are 3 points clear from Socceroos and we should see if they can keep the gap or not. One thing is clear Aussies have 3 home matches from 4 remaining WCQs. It will be a hard battle over third place between Aussies and Emiratis.

I think their group is more competitive compared to us but not necessarily tougher than us. If Uzbeks pull their shit together they can eliminate South Korea. It seem KFA is very persistent on keeping their German coach. I don't see Syrian team grabs the play off spot.

[Camran khan]

The reason many say that their group is tougher or that we would have a harder time there, is because they would replace us with Iraq, UAE, Thailand or some team, not Japan/Australia. They expect it to be a group like Iran, Australia, Japan, Saudi etc. Of course it would be harder if 3 out of the top 4 Asian teams were in the same group, but there is a reason why there can only be 2 of them, Either way, if we swapped placed with Japan/Australia, I'm sure we would still definately qualify and probably top our group. We have conceded 0 goals this far, which is amazing.

[euphory]

they are dumb idiots. fact say all.

[Nokhodi]

Our group is harder and more competitive. Japan and Australia are worse than 4 years ago and the Saudis have ended up looking good because of refs.
UAE and Thailand aren't anything special either and the people who rate them are the same who think AFC isn't corrupt.

[Omid177]

Iran is so good, they make their group look like shit

[Taz]

I can understand the difficulty your average football fan would have in accepting that Iran are the best team in Asia because on paper we're arguably behind the likes of Japan and South Korea on individual talent. Also, unless you're an Iranian fan, likelihood is all you've seen of us is the three World Cup games and the odd Asian Cup game and it's easy enough to cast us as some semi-competent organised side who fluked their way to a couple of solid defensive performances. But if you've actually watched enough of our games, anyone with half a footballing brain can see we're not merely a good defensive side, we're world class. Number 1 on the continent isn't even up for debate and hasn't been for at least 1 or 2 years.

With regards to the direct comparison between the two groups, here's the FIFA rankings too:

Iran - 33
South Korea - 40
Uzbekistan - 63
Qatar - 84
China - 86
Syria - 95

Japan - 51
Australia - 55
Saudi Arabia - 57
UAE - 68
Iraq - 122
Thailand - 127

I reckon there's very little between the two groups. I'd say Iran, Japan, South Korea and Australia are the traditional big four and then you have the middle pack of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan, the former seem to be competing with the big four this time round on current form and then you have the rest. So yeah, maybe Group B have two of the middle pack with the Saudis finding good form currently whereas Group A only has the Uzbeks but on the other hand Group A has one less qualifying spot available because, quite simply, CQ, so it evens out

[ehsan singapore]

i dont think group A is easier, if you notice syria is good team, have not lost at home, syria beat uzbekistan, china away. iran and korea could not win in china. while group B is easier for me

[PersianLegion]

To be honest I don't take fifa ranking very seriously. It is relatively accurate not exactly. I consider direct matches more accurately. For example last time we played against Japan at home the result was a tie while we have defeated S.Korea 4 times in a row but according to fifa ranking S.Korea should be stronger than Japan.

Anyhow, statistically Iran is the best team in Asia at this point but it will be great if we can have a couple of friendlies vs Australia and Japan to shut down the doubters.

[Super Shojaei]

In the other group Australia i reckon we would have beaten at home. Thailand would have been easier as they play quite open at home and don't really have the quality to get through our defence. Saudi Arabia would've been a pain, for one the political tensions would've spilt over, we may given up our home status, the tensions may have amounted to redcards on the pitch , their keeper would've turned into David De Gea for both matches, Saudi Arabia seems to be the one nations that never brings it's A game for anyone.... Except us. But they've improved massively, their coach has built them into a strong unit and they got some good youngsters coming to through. Iraq woulda been easier to deal with than Qatar as there would be no away fixture. All in all i think we got a good deal , no one expected south Korea and Uzbekistan to collapse the way that they did but they did so we gotta be great full. But in a way it shows we can take nothing for granted at the world cup qualifiers. It was in 2009 when we were the Uzbekistan of the group, dropping points against weak sides like the UAE and not delivering when it mattered against Saudi Arabia and North Korea.

[Super Shojaei]

i dont think group A is easier, if you notice syria is good team, have not lost at home, syria beat uzbekistan, china away. iran and korea could not win in china. while group B is easier for me

Syria don't even have a home they've been that good, and theyve picked up a decent result away from home. They are playing for their lives much more so than Iraq and Thailand

[ehsan singapore]

Syria don't even have a home they've been that good, and theyve picked up a decent result away from home. They are playing for their lives much more so than Iraq and Thailand

true i wont be surprise if they can get 2 or 3rd

[Super Shojaei]

true i wont be surprise if they can get 2 or 3rd

i think south Korea will come through, they always do. Uzbekistan will bottle it like they always do. China it's just too late, they should've sacked their manager earlier