Statbox on Group B at the Asian Cup, which will be held in Qatar from Jan. 12 to Feb. 10: AUSTRALIA FIFA Ranking: 25 Best finish: Champions (2015) Coach: Graham Arnold Prospects: Australia's stunning 2022 World Cup campaign, where they ran eventual champions Argentina close in the last 16, has encouraged hopes that the 2015 champions and 2011 runners-up will be around at the business end of the tournament.
Arnold has plenty of new faces in his squad but they know the conditions in Doha well and he will hope the togetherness and fighting spirit behind their success at the World Cup have survived the personnel changes.
UZBEKISTAN FIFA Ranking: 68 Best finish: Semi-finals (2011) Coach: Srecko Katanec (Slovenia)Prospects: Uzbekistan have at least got out of their group at the last five editions of the Asian Cup and earned plenty of admirers over the years for their neat, technical passing game.
Their chances of going deep in Qatar suffered a huge blow when Italy-based top scorer and captain Eldor Shomurodov was ruled out of the tournament with a leg injury.SYRIAFIFA Ranking: 91 Best finish: Group stage (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011, 2019) Coach: Hector Cuper (Argentina) Prospects: Former Valencia and Inter coach Cuper was brought on board last year but has struggled to put out a side that can compete with Asia's heavyweights.