The Iran national football team, recognised as IR Iran by FIFA, represents Iran in international senior football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI).
The Saudi Arabia national football team (SAFF) represents Saudi Arabia in men's international football. They are known as Al-Suqour Al-Arabiyyah and sometimes Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur, a reference to their traditional colours of green and white, and represent both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The Iraq national football team represents Iraq in men's international football and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), the governing body for football in Iraq. Iraq's usual home venue is the Basra International Stadium.
The United Arab Emirates national football team represents United Arab Emirates in international football and serves under the auspices of the country's Football Association.
The Bahrain national football team represents Bahrain in international football and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association, which was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached the World Cup, but have twice come within one match of doing so. Bahrain won the FIFA's most improved team award in 2004, and finished fourth in the 2004 Asian Cup, beating Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals but losing to Japan in the semi-finals 4–3. Bahrain then lost to Iran in the third-place match, thus finishing in fourth place overall. Bahrain had a golden year in 2019, winning both the WAFF Championship and the Arabian Gulf Cup for the first time, under the stewardship of Hélio Sousa.
The Qatar national football team, nicknamed "The Maroons", represents Qatar in international football, and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association, which is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and comes under the global jurisdiction of world football’s governing body FIFA. They play their home games at Khalifa International Stadium and Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The latter is considered the home stadium.
The Lebanon national football team, controlled by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), have represented Lebanon in association football since their inception in 1933. The squad is governed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) continentally, and FIFA worldwide. While Lebanon have yet to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, they have qualified three times to the AFC Asian Cup: they first participated in 2000, when they hosted the event. Lebanon's main venue is the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut; however they also play in other locations such as the Saida Municipal Stadium in Sidon.
The Palestine national football team, governed by the Palestinian Football Association, represents Palestine in association football. The squad is governed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) continentally, and FIFA worldwide.
Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan is a retired Qatari international footballer who played as a winger. He was named the Asian Player of the Year in 2006, becoming the first Qatari to win the title. He played for Al Arabi at youth level before moving to Al Sadd in 2004 on a professional contract.
Hussein Saeed Mohammed is an Iraqi former footballer who played as a forward and is a former president of the Iraq Football Association. Saeed is in ninth place in the list of top international goal scorers, with 78 goals. Along with Ahmed Radhi, he is considered to be the best Iraqi player of the 20th century and features in 25th place in Asia's Best Players of the Century list. Hussein's 78 international goals make him currently the Iraqi national team's highest scoring player.
Badar Mubarak Saleh Al-Maimani, commonly known as Badar Al-Maimani, is an Omani football manager and a former footballer who is the current second assistant manager of Fanja SC in Oman Professional League.
Imad Ali Suleiman Al-Hosni, commonly known as Imad Al-Hosni or Al-Amda, is an Omani former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for the Oman national team.
The Australia national under-23 soccer team represents Australia in international under-23 soccer and at the Olympic Games. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) since leaving the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006. The team's official nickname is the Olyroos.
Fawzi Bashir Rajab Bait Doorbeen, commonly known as Fawzi Bashir, is an Omani former footballer who last played for Dhofar S.C.S.C. in Oman Professional League. He has also played for the Oman national team.
Morteza Pouraliganji is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis and Iran national team.
Andre El Haddad is a Lebanese former football referee. He was a FIFA listed referee between 2007 and 2013, and has officiated several international and continental competitions.
Saleh Badr Al-Yazidi is a football player who plays for Lusail as a midfielder. Born in Yemen, he has represented Qatar at youth level. His family is descended from the sheikhdom ruled by the Yazidi tribe in Lower Yafa, a historic state in what was then known as the British Aden Protectorate. He played football for a team in Yemen in his youth years, and was later a student at the acclaimed Aspire Academy in Qatar. He gained Qatari citizenship in July 2011. His family still lives in Yafa.
On 29 February 2012, the Bahraini and Indonesian national association football teams faced each other in a qualifying match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa, Bahrain. The match ended as the biggest ever win for Bahrain, and the biggest defeat for Indonesia. This match is known for a FIFA match-fixing investigation afterwards.
Abdelkarim Hassan is a Qatari professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Qatar Stars League club Al-Wakrah and the Qatar national team.
The men's national association football teams of Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates played a match on 8 July 2007 as part of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. The game marked the debut of a united Vietnamese national football team at continental level. Previously, only South Vietnam had played in competitive tournaments. Vietnam qualified for the tournament as one of four co-hosts of the 2007 Asian Cup, along with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
