Return of Asian Qualifiers: All you need to know about Saudi Arabia

The roads to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ are open once again but, in the ever-changing world of international football, how clearly will we recognise teams we haven't seen in competitive action for well over a year?

Join the-AFC.com as we preview a Palestinian side who have shown their ability to compete with some of the continent’s top sides, but find themselves in need to be near-perfect at this stage of the Asian Qualifiers if they are to advance to Round 3.

Back then, Yaser Hamed was just 17 and a graduate of Athletic Bilbao’s renowned youth academy. The bourgeoning defender enjoyed spells in the youth teams of several clubs in Spain’s lower divisions, before signing his first professional contract in 2016.

After their maiden appearance at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Palestine returned for the subsequent edition in 2019, and it was later that year when Hamed made his national team debut. Since then, the centre-back has become one of the pillars of the team and has been ever present in his side’s first five qualifying fixtures for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

As the kick-off date for the historic 2021 edition approaches, the-AFC.com looks back at the 2020 tournament which turned out to be a thrilling affair despite the challenging circumstances.

We kicked off the series in style with fans voting Persepolis FC's Mehdi Abdi Qara as the winner of the Best Headers of 2020, Ramin Rezaeian of Al Duhail topped the Best Free-kicks, Al Nassr's Abdulrahman Al Obaid won the Best Long-Range Goals, Abderrazak Hamdallah's strike against Qatar's Al Saad on Matchday One was voted as the winner of the Best Team Goals, Persepolis' Qara topped the Best Last Minute Goals while his teammate Hamed Lak won the Best Saves.

Our next instalment looks at the goals scored by clinical finishes and invites you, the fan, to tell us which was your favourite.

Football lovers from every corner of Asia have selected a goalkeeper, three defenders and a four-man midfield in previous weeks, now it’s time to crown the tournament’s greatest ever forwards, with countless worthy contenders to choose from.

With a staggering 344 AFC Cup goals between them, we’ve selected the cream of the crop, including players hailing from Europe, Africa and South America, in our star-studded shortlist, now it’s up to you decide the final make-up of our ultimate team. Study our nominees below, and don’t forget to register your vote at the bottom of the page.