The start of the 2023 Asian Cup is approaching, where there will undoubtedly be interesting competition and bright moments. Let's look at the favorites of the tournament according to football analysts.

The main favorite is the Japanese team. In addition to it, the main contenders include Australia, Iran, the Republic of Korea and the host country of the tournament, Qatar. Slightly inferior to them in the ratings are Saudi Arabia, China, Iraq, the UAE and Uzbekistan.

The tournament will be held from January 12 to February 10 in the usual format - 24 teams are divided into 6 groups, followed by the playoffs. Thanks to this system, even the weakest teams get a chance to compete in the playoffs.

Among the star players, it is worth noting the Japanese Wataru Endo from Liverpool, Takehiro Tomiyasu from Arsenal, Kaoru Mitoma from Brighton and Takumi Minamino from Monaco.

Kim Min-jae from Bayern, Son Heung-min from Tottenham and Lee Kang-in from PSG will compete for the Republic of Korea national team.

The Uzbekistan national team is led by Srechko Katanec. His team includes Abbosbek Faizullaev from CSKA, Rustam Ashurmatov from Rubin, and ex-Spartak player Oston Urunov.

The Japanese team has the most titles - 4, Saudi Arabia and Iran have 3 victories each. Defending champions Qatar will defend their title at their home tournament. Whether they will be able to do this or someone else will lift the Asian Cup - we will find out in the coming weeks.

Composition of the 2023 Asian Cup groups:

• Group A: Qatar, China, Tajikistan, Lebanon;
• Group B: Uzbekistan, Australia, Syria, India;
• Group C: Iran, UAE, Hong Kong, Palestine;
• Group D: Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, Vietnam;
• Group E: Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Jordan, Bahrain;
• Group F: Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Oman.