AFC Futsal Championship Uzbekistan 2016: Meet the teams

QUALIFYING RESULTS AND FINALS FIXTURES

KEY FIXTURES:

10 Feb 2016: Opening match - Iraq v China
17 Feb 2016: Quarter-finals
18 Feb 2016: Play-offs for four losing quarter-finalists
19 Feb 2016: 5th place play-off, semi-finals
21 Feb 2016: 3rd/4th place match, final

GROUP A

UZBEKISTAN (14th appearance)
Ever-presents in the AFC Futsal Championship, Uzbekistan host the tournament for the third time having staged the event in 2006 and 2010, finishing runners-up on both occasions following defeats in the final to Japan and Iran respectively. Most recently Uzbekistan defeated Kuwait 2-1 at the last AFC Futsal Championship to finish third for a second time having previously defeated neighbours Kyrgyzstan 5-3 in the 2007 playoff.

LEBANON (10th appearance)
Having first reached the quarter-finals at the 2004 tournament in Macau, Lebanon have made it to the last eight in the past five editions of the AFC Futsal Championship. Lebanon’s experience showed in the qualifiers as the Cedars booked their ticket to Tashkent with a 100 per cent record, topping West Zone Group A with 5-2 victories over Jordan and Saudi Arabia and a 6-2 defeat of Bahrain, the only other team in the group to have participated in the AFC Fustal Championship.

KYRGYZSTAN (14th appearance)
One of five nations to have taken part in every edition of the AFC Futsal Championship, Kyrgyzstan enjoyed their best spell from 2005 to 2007 when they reached the semi-finals on three consecutive occasions before making it to the last eight in the next three tournaments. Their knockout stage run ended at Vietnam 2014 after finishing third in their group behind Uzbekistan and Japan, marking the first time they have failed to progress from the group phase since 2004. Quarter-finalists in 2002 and 2003, Kyrgyzstan qualified for the 2016 tournament by edging a tight Central Zone campaign after a 3-2 final day victory over Tajikistan followed draws with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

SAUDI ARABIA (Debut appearance)
Saudi Arabia will be making their AFC Futsal Championship debut this year after emerging as the West Zone’s best third-place finisher ahead of the United Arab Emirates to fill the void created following FIFA’s suspension of Kuwait, who had booked their place after finishing fourth at Vietnam 2014 behind Uzbekistan, automatic qualifiers as hosts of the 14th AFC Futsal Championship.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Japan lift AFC Futsal Championship 2014

GROUP B

IRAN (14th appearance)
Champions of the first seven editions of the AFC Futsal Championship, Iran were denied the chance for an eight consecutive title when they were beaten in the 2006 semi-finals by Japan, who had become the first team ever in history of the tournament to beat the Iranians when they won 3-1 in the group stage in 2005. Iran avenged their loss at Uzbekistan 2006 when they defeated the Japanese 4-1 in the final Osaka before going on to to take their tournament wins into double figures with triumphs in Thailand (2008) and Uzbekistan (2010) as the AFC Futsal Championship became a biannual event. An extra-time defeat to Thailand saw them miss out on the 2012 final in the UAE before Japan once again proved Iran’s nemesis as the East Asians took the 2014 title with a penalty shootout victory in the final in Vietnam.

IRAQ (10th appearance)
Just one year after making their tournament debut at the 2001 AFC Futsal Championship in Iran, Iraq reached the quarter-finals as the best third-place finisher in the group stage of Indonesia 2002, recording an incredible 20-1 win over Brunei in the process. Since then Iraq, who qualified for Uzbekistan 2016 as West Zone Group B runners-up, have been unable to reach the knockout phase in their seven subsequent appearances at the AFC Futsal Championship finals.

CHINA (11th appearance)
A mainstay at the tournament since making their debut at the 2002 AFC Futsal Championship in Indonesia, China have reached the semi-finals twice, missing out on a place in the 2008 and 2010 finals following defeats to Thailand and Uzbekistan respectively. China, who had to settle for fourth on both occasions having been beaten by Japan in consecutive third-place playoffs, booked their place at the 2016 tournament by topping the East Zone qualifiers undefeated, with their only blemish coming in an academic 3-3 draw against Korea Republic, which came with their ticket to Tashkent already assured.

JORDAN (Debut appearance)
One of two teams that are making their AFC Futsal Championship debut, Jordan overcame a bad start in Group A of the West Zone qualifiers to to take their place in Tashkent alongside table-topping Lebanon, who defeated them 5-2 in the opening match of the 2016 qualifying campaign. But the Jordanians recovered well and after a 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia, they scored three times in a three-minute spell at the start of the second period and three times in a two-minute burst in the last ten minutes to defeat Bahrain 7-3 and advance as Group A runners-up.

GROUP C

THAILAND (14th appearance)
The undisputed kings of Southeast Asian futsal, Thailand have come close to adding the Asian crown to their 11 regional titles after twice reaching the final of the AFC Futsal Championship, losing out to Iran on home soil in 2008 before finishing second best to Japan in the UAE four years later. Third-place finishers on four occasions and quarter-finalists three times, Thailand made light work of qualifying for Uzbekistan 2016, scoring 42 times and conceding just five as they topped Group A in the ASEAN Zone with four wins out of four.

VIETNAM (4th appearance)
Runners-up behind Australia in Group B of the ASEAN Zone qualifiers - having been consigned to second place following a narrow 6-5 defeat to the Futsalroos - Vietnam are making only their fourth appearance at the AFC Futsal Championship finals. After debuting in 2005 when they hosted the tournament, the Vietnamese returned to the competition in 2010 before reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in 2014 when the AFC Futsal Championship again took place in the Southeast Asian nation.

CHINESE TAIPEI (11th appearance)
A regular feature at the AFC Futsal Championship finals, Chinese Taipei have taken part in all but one edition of the continental competition since making their tournament debut in 2001, with their failure to qualify for Japan 2007 the only occasion that the East Asians have missed out. Hosts of the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship, a year after they had reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Futsal Championship for the only time in their history, Chinese Taipei qualified for Uzbekistan 2016 as runners-up to China in the East Zone qualifiers in a tight race for second-place that saw them defeat Korea Republic (6-4), Hong Kong (6-5) and Mongolia (5-3).

TAJIKISTAN (9th appearance)
Quarter-finalists in 2007, where they were knocked out following a 3-1 defeat to neighbours Uzbekistan, Tajikistan have taken part in the last seven editions of the AFC Futsal Championship, returning for a second appearance in the continental competition in 2005 having debuted four years earlier in Iran. The Tajiks squeezed into the 2016 finals as runners-up to Kyrgyzstan in the Central Zone qualifiers in Khujand, with an Ali Fayaz own goal seeing the hosts edge Afghanistan 6-5 and advance with a better head-to-head record after finishing level on four points with the Afghans.

GROUP D

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