Draw favors a strong Arab presence at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China

There were an impressive 11 Arab nations at the 2019 Asian Cup. Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar and Oman have already booked their places in the 2023 tournament thanks to their performances in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

Bahrain, Yemen, Palestine, Jordan and Kuwait found out on Thursday what they have to do in June to join them in China, and if all five make it then half of the 24 teams in the Asian Cup will be Arab. There is a lot to do, however, if that is to happen.

It works like this: there are 24 teams divided into six groups of four. Instead of the usual home and away format, each group will be played in a round-robin format of three games in a central venue. There are 11 slots available, meaning that the six group winners and the five best runners-up will qualify.

Group A is the only one to be based in West Asia with Kuwait taking on the hosting duties and welcoming Jordan, Indonesia and Nepal. The group is almost a reunion of the second round of qualification of the 2022 World Cup. Then, Australia won all their games, Kuwait and Jordan were second with 14 points each and Nepal came next with six. This time, the Blues and Jordan will be expected to do something similar and will be too strong for the South Asians, who are ranked 167 in the world.

Indonesia will present the toughest challenge. Its young team has been improving under Shin Tae-yong, who led South Korea at the 2018 World Cup and also coached Seongnam FC to the 2010 AFC Champions League title. The free-scoring Southeast Asians finished as runners-up in their regional tournament in December, and knocked out Vietnam in the semi final but couldn’t match Thailand in the final, losing 6-2 on aggregate. Indonesia’s chances against