The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest continental football championship in the world after Copa América. The winning team becomes the champion of Asia and until 2015 qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup.
The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships, along with the current FIFA World Cup holder and the host nation, to bring the number of teams up to eight.
Carlos Alberto Gomes Parreira is a Brazilian former football manager who holds the record for attending the most FIFA World Cup final tournaments as manager with six appearances. He also managed five different national teams in five editions of the FIFA World Cup. He managed Brazil to victory at the 1994 World Cup, the 2004 Copa América, and the 2005 Confederations Cup. He is also the only manager to have led two different Asian teams to conquer the AFC Asian Cup.
The Saudi Arabia national football team represents Saudi Arabia in men's international football. They are known as Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur in 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 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 Qatar national football team nicknamed The Maroons, represents Qatar in international football, and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association and AFC. They play their home games at Khalifa International Stadium and Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The latter is considered the home stadium. Qatar is a member of both the FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Lambertus van Marwijk is a Dutch football manager who was recently the head coach of the United Arab Emirates national team. As a player, he played for the Go Ahead Eagles, AZ, MVV and Fortuna Sittard amongst other clubs and also represented the Netherlands once.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation is the football governing body of Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1956, its responsibilities include administration of club competitions and national teams. The founder of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation is Prince Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud.
Nana Otto Addo is a German-born Ghanaian football manager and former player. He was recently the manager of the Ghana national football team, and works as a talent coach for Borussia Dortmund.
Otto Martin Pfister is a German football manager and one of Germany's most successful coaching exports, voted Africa's Manager of the Year in 1992. He is formerly the manager of the Afghanistan national team.
Cosmin Aurelian Olăroiu is a Romanian professional football manager and former footballer in charge of UAE Pro League Sharjah FC. As a manager, he guided Steaua Bucharest to the Romanian League title and Romanian Supercup both in 2006, and led his side to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in the same year. He is considered one of the greatest managers in the Arabian Peninsula, having led the most decorated clubs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates – Al Hilal, Al Sadd, Al Ain and Al Ahli – to new trophies. In 2020, he guided Jiangsu Suning to their first-ever title in China.
The Bahrain women's national football team was first formed in 2003. The team represents Bahrain in international women's football and thus falls under the governance of the Bahrain Football Association; more specifically run by the women's committee at the Association. Although participating in several friendly tournaments, the team played its first official international match against the Maldives on April 22, 2007 and entered the FIFA Women's World Rankings in June 2007 at 111th out of 142.
Radhi Shenaishil Swadi is a former Iraqi footballer and former coach of the Iraq national football team, and currently manages Iraq U23.
The Qatar women's national football team is a women's association football team representing Qatar and controlled by Qatar Football Association (QFA). The team is largely inactive and currently unranked in the FIFA world ranking.
The national federation became a FIFA affiliate in 1980. The development of women's football in the Middle East and central Asia dates back only about ten years.
Isabelle Linden is a German footballer. She plays as a midfielder for the Hungarian club Ferencváros TC. Former player of the German national team, she retired from professional football in 2020 before coming back from her retirement one year later.
Jan Van Winckel is a Belgian football coach, UEFA and AFC Pro License Instructor and a FIFA Technical Expert. He is senior technical consultant at the United Arab Emirates Football Association and technical advisor of Al-Ahli Saudi.
Gheorghe Cornea is a former professional football player of Romanian nationality converted into a professional football coach. He was born on July 7, 1967 in the Romanian city of Târgu Jiu.
The Saudi Arabia women's national football team is the official women's national football team of the country of Saudi Arabia. The team is controlled by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), the governing body for football in Saudi Arabia.
