Welcome to Part 2 of the Fairer World Cup – my new international project on Football Manager 2024.
In case you don’t know what this is about, I’m playing through a World Cup where players can only play for the weakest national teams they are eligible for. Instead of the top nations having first dibs on the best players, the talent pool is now more spread out, which should make the tournament more competitive.
You can find out more about how the Fairer World Cup works by going back to Part 1, where I explained the rules and went through the OFC qualifiers. I bet you’ll never guess who the best national team in Oceania is!
In today’s post, I will take you through the AFC qualifiers. Will the likes of Japan and Australia continue to dominate Asian football, or could a new force emerge?
THE QUALIFIERS: ASIA
Before I cover the qualifiers in each region, I’m going to look at some of the biggest names who’ve switched nations for the Fairer World Cup – and point out the potential winners and losers from all this hoo-ha.
India might be batty about cricket, but a huge influx of English players – including Blackburn’s wing starlet Dilan Markanday and veteran EFL stopper Danny Batth – could well lead them into their first football World Cup. Neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh can now call upon Zidane Iqbal and Hamza Choudhury respectively – immediately elevating their squads from ‘rubbish’ to ‘slightly below mediocre’.
My wildcards for qualification would probably be Syria, who now have the playmaking talents of Mahmoud Dahoud and will also benefit from Sweden’s large Assyrian community. If only they could bring CM legends Kennedy Bakircioglu and Sharbel Touma out of retirement…
Indonesia have made good use of the Dutch market to secure Kevin Diks (of “Shades of Deep Purple” fame), Tijjani Reijnders and Pascal Struijk, amongst others. The Philippines look a bit better in defence, having gained Real Madrid left-back David Alaba and West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola, though they still lack depth further afield.
Japan and South Korea come out largely unscathed, but Australia have taken a bit of a walloping. Captain Mathew Ryan and midfield hipster Jackson Irvine are now both wearing Scottish tartan, while rising stars Garang Kuol and Nestory Irankunda play for South Sudan and Burundi respectively. Qualification might therefore be a bit trickier for the Socceroos, though at least they can finally call up Scott Chipperfield’s son Liam, who’s no longer tied to Switzerland.
ROUND 1
To kick us off, the 20 worst nations in Asia battled it out for places in the main group phase. Indonesia sailed through, as couple of Tijjani Reijnders penalties bookended an emphatic 7-0 aggregate win over Bhutan. Meanwhile, German-based stars Nadiem Amiri and Wahid Faghir helped Afghanistan to overwhelm a not-so-golden Mongol horde.
Timor-Leste put up a very brave fight against Chinese Taipei, but Fábio Carvalho and his new team-mates were ultimately edged out on away goals after a couple of spirited draws. Bangladesh’s adventures with the big-haired Hamza Choudhury were cut short by Luke O’Nien and Singapore. Zidane Iqbal won’t be headbutting any Italian defenders in the finals after Pakistan crashed out early to Yemen.
ROUND 2
The 10 early victors now joined the other 26 Asian nations to compete in the first group stage. They were divided into nine groups of four teams apiece – with the top two in each pool advancing to the next phase.
GROUP 1
No real surprises in this group. After getting super-keepered at home by Lebanon, and then surviving a couple of away scares, Australia eventually sauntered through in 1st place. Liam Chipperfield even scored a goal to make his old man proud.
Lebanon joined them in the next phase thanks to a rock-solid defence. William Saliba and co were only breached three times – all at home when the Aussies came to Beirut with their scoring boots on.
GROUP 2
Here’s the first real surprise – Qatar failed to get out of their group! Many of their African imports (including Sudan-born striker Almoez Ali) had gone back home to represent their native lands, leaving them noticeably short of star quality. A 5-2 defeat in Kyrgyzstan proved particularly fatal, as they were ultimately squeezed out on goal difference by the Central Asians.
And BustTheNet, rejoice – Singapore were into Round 3 as well! Backed by the vast defensive experience of Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien and Cardiff’s Perry Ng, the Lions roared through with four wins and just one defeat.
GROUP 3
Uzbekistan might have screwed up World Cup qualification in so many different ways in the past, but the early signs for the White Wolves were more promising. They followed up their excellent run to the 2024 Asian Cup Final under Srečko Katanec by going unbeaten in their group and reaching the next phase with ease.
Unfortunately for Indonesia, their decision to go Dutch backfired when they conceded a late Nadiem Amiri equaliser at home against a defensively fragile Afghanistan side. That ramped up the pressure before their winner-takes-all final game in Vietnam, in which they struck early but then collapsed to a 3-1 defeat. Jaïro Riedewald and Tijjani Reijnders might be good, but apparently they’re not as good as Chung Do.
GROUP 4
This pool saw a thrilling three-way battle between Saudi Arabia, Syria and India. Unfortunately, it was the Indians who missed out, as a defensive disaster from Danny Batth against Newcastle’s head honchos washed their dreams down the Ganges.
No early baths for Syria, however. The Qasioun Eagles justified my ‘wildcards’ tag with some impressive results – not least a 3-0 win in Jeddah – to go through just behind the Saudis.
GROUP 5
It was Japan who won the 2024 Asian Cup in this universe, and they carried on their great form with six straight wins in an admittedly easy group. In a much-changed international landscape, it certainly helps that the Samurai Blue have retained all their star players.
The battle for 2nd place went down to the final day. Tajikistan sat in the hotseat until they were blown away by a Kyogo Furuhashi masterclass, allowing Hong Kong to leapfrog them after squeezing past the 10 men of Oman.
GROUP 6
South Korea arguably had it even easier than their Japanese rivals across the sea. The Taegeuk Warriors also coasted through with a 100% record after scoring 20 goals in six matches, though they almost blew a couple of big leads against plucky Palestine.
Sadly, the Palestinian dream would end with a couple of painful narrow defeats to Thailand. Instead, it was the War Elephants who marched on to the next round.
GROUP 7
It’s amazing how much difference having a bona-fide FM24 wonderkid has made to Kuwait’s chances. Roony Bardghji only scored once in their first six qualifiers (and that was against Cambodia), but the Swedish-raised winger certainly provided plenty of attacking energy. An impressive display in the penultimate game away to Bahrain effectively sent them through.
Kuwait came 2nd in the group – only behind Iraq on goals scored. The Lions too have gained a dynamic young attacker in Noah Darvich. The 17-year-old had just a single assist to his name so far, but perhaps he was saving his best form for the next round?
GROUP 8
China were actually one of the first teams to qualify for Round 3 – not that you would know it from their shaky defensive record, which included a 4-1 defeat against Yemen! It perhaps didn’t help that one of their centre-backs was the former Everton reject Tyias Browning.
By contrast, the United Arab Emirates were much tighter at the back, as well as being very clinical going forward. Managed by former Portugal international Paulo Bento, the UAE’s army of Brazilian imports was on course to take them to their first World Cup finals since 1990.
GROUP 9
And lastly, we come to Group 9, which also went to the wire. Though Iran had a couple of frustrating draws with the Philippines, the brilliant Mehdi Taremi helped them through on the final day without any problems. Now the question was: who would join them?
The Philippines needed to beat Jordan in Cebu City to advance… but the home fans were left devastated when Jordan scored three times midway through the first half to qualify instead. It was the end of the road for David Alaba and Alphonse Areola.
ROUND 3
The 18 surviving teams are now divided into three groups of six. The top two teams in each group will qualify automatically for the World Cup. The teams in 3rd and 4th will advance to Round 4, for another chance at qualification. As for the bottom two teams… they will be eliminated.
GROUP A
Japan were the clear favourites in a competitive Group A, so it was not surprise that they led at the halfway point. Mind you, they did need a 98th-minute penalty from captain Wataru Endo to preserve their unbeaten record against an impressive Kuwait team. If you’re wondering what all that additional stoppage time is all about, Bardghji got injured for the visitors in injury time.
Having put Kuwait right in the mix for automatic qualification, Bardghji’s fine form would incidentally earn him a mid-season transfer to Newcastle. Meanwhile, Katie Price would be proud to see Jordan flying high after a couple of dramatic 4-3 wins over UAE and Lebanon.
Unfortunately, Lebanon had realised that they couldn’t just keep relying on swinging corners onto Saliba’s head if they wanted to win games. They would need to get more out of their other superstars, like… er… Reda Khadra? He used to play for Brighton, didn’t he?
Japan had absolutely no problems wrapping up their spot at the World Cup – breezing past the UAE and Lebanon before completing the campaign undefeated. Jordan would also book their tickets with a dramatic equaliser in Dubai.
With Lebanon propping up the table, that left Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE battling it out for two places in the next round. The latter two fought out a nervy draw in Kuwait City, which meant the hosts were through… but the Emiratis would need to hope that Iraq wet the bed in their final game.
And believe me, Iraq tried. They took the lead three times against Japan, only to concede three equalisers. Had the Samurai Blue scored again, they would have sent the UAE through… but Iraq held on to keep their hopes alive.
GROUP B
Was this finally Uzbekistan’s time to shine? The Spursiest team in international football raced to the top of Group B with five shutout wins from their first six matches. But in true Tottenham fashion, they also contrived to lose to one of the biggest strugglers in the group – giving Iran a timely remedy to their World Cup blues.
Saudi Arabia hadn’t yet convinced any of their big Pro League imports to take up citizenship – not Cristiano Ronaldo, not Karim Benzema, not even Jack Hendry. Yet the Saudis’ hometown heroes (and Rhys Norrington-Davies) won their first three group games, only to slip to a couple of draws as well as getting spanked by the Uzbeks. I guess money can’t buy you everything.
By contrast, China had a real nightmare start – losing three of their opening four fixtures, before a 3-0 win over Iran got them back in the running. It’s perhaps a sign of just how terrible their domestic options were that Browning was joined in the Chinese squad by another Englishman – teenage winger Ashton Bosswell, who played for Ipswich’s Under-21s.
Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia each held their nerves in the penultimate straight, reeling off a couple more wins to put themselves among the first teams to qualify for the World Cup.
A frustrating Round 3 for Iran and China at least ended with them making it through to Round 4 – dashing the hopes of Vietnam (and their German-born rising star Ibrahim Maza) and Singapore. Iran would be particularly hopeful again after a 4-0 thrashing of China, who had failed to score in their last four games. Unfortunately, it was too late for them to give Oscar a Chinese passport.
GROUP C
And then we come to Group C. Australia and South Korea were the top seeds in this pool, so it came as no surprise that the top two teams after six rounds were Australia and Sou…
…hang on? Australia and THAILAND?! How on Earth did Thailand beat South Korea 3-0?! Was the entire Korean team called up to military service and/or recruited for K-pop’s newest boy band? And where the hell is Heung-Min Son?
And come to think of it, how did Thailand follow that up by winning 1-0 in Sydney? It’s not as if they’ve gained any big players… unless you really stretch the definition of ‘big’ to include the former Barnsley and Blackpool midfielder Kenny Dougall. I wouldn’t, personally.
Syria were right in the mix too, but Hong Kong’s last six matches had been full of (Connor) Pain. It turns out Calvin Harris can’t get all the goals after all.
Thailand showed no signs of jadedness in the run-in. Supachai Jaided’s hat-trick against Hong Kong secured a historic qualification with a game to spare, making them the first Thailand men’s team to play at a senior World Cup. Let’s hope they don’t lose 13-0 to the USA, like the women did in 2019…
At the same time, Australia’s hopes were turned Down Under in Melbourne, where the Socceroos were overpowered 4-1 by South Korea. That result effectively put the Koreans through, and they would indeed top the group after beating Thailand 2-1 in their final game.
So Australia – along with the plucky Syrians – would have to battle on through another round. At the bottom, Hong Kong and Kyrgyzstan just didn’t have the quality to get near the other four teams.
ROUND 4
So now we’re in the second-chance saloon, in which the remaining teams are split into groups of three. They’ll only face their group rivals once apiece – with one match at home, and one away.
The two group winners will qualify for the World Cup, while the runners-up will face off in ANOTHER round for a play-off spot. The bottom teams get nothing except their bus fares home.
GROUP A
Some Aussie fans must have thought they’d blown it when they drew in Syria for the second time in three months. But then the Socceroos’ vice-captain Miloš Degenek inspired them to a 3-1 Sydney win over Iraq, who were then knocked out by a very late Syrian equaliser. That draw meant Australia made it through after all.
GROUP B
Iran also made the most of their second chance. Mehdi Taremi – who, incidentally, now plays for Chelsea in this universe – scored three goals as victories over China and Kuwait guaranteed the Iranians’ presence at the World Cup (barring any international incidents). With the group’s other match finishing 1-1, China squeaked into 2nd place on goal difference.
ROUND 5
Now we move onto Round 5, and I swear this is the last one. Having already gone through 18 matches each, Syria and China would now have to play two more – against each other. The winners would advance to the intercontinental play-offs; the losers would be binned.
Hosting the first leg in Aleppo, Syria showed their fighting spirit in more ways than one – picking up six yellow cards and one red. Crucially, their Swedish-born frontman Mikael Ishak and homegrown winger Mahmoud Al-Mawas set up goals for each other in a 2-1 win. China would need to battle back on home soil if they were to keep their World Cup dream alive.
Instead, Changsha played host to a real China crisis. Syria had five shots on target, and they scored all of them. Ishak got a hat-trick and Noah Shamoun – another of those Swedish Assyrians – was also on target as the Qasioun Eagles raced away and triumphed 7-1 on aggregate!
With that, China were finally eliminated… and less than a year after the end of civil war, Syria were a step closer to a historic World Cup debut. We’ll see them in the play-offs!
AFC QUALIFYING STATS
So South Korea and Japan still lead the way in Asia… but how about that from Thailand?! Could this be the first of many fairytales at the Fairer World Cup?
Please tune in again on Friday, when we head over to Africa for the CAF qualifiers!
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