Since the first few groups of the European Championship qualifiers have five teams in each group, there will be one team in each round, so these teams will take the opportunity to play against opponents from other continents, which also gives the two sides the opportunity to exchange ideas. Coincidentally, this time both teams picked the Asian team as opponents, and the result is still secondary, and the key thing is that this gives us the opportunity to position the strength of the Asian team.
Wales and South Korea exchanged white rolls, while Bulgaria lost 1-0 to Iran. It seems that the two Asian teams are doing pretty well. During the European Qualifiers, these two cross-regional friendly matches also gave us the opportunity to think about it. What would be the outcome if Iran participated in the Euro Qualifiers?
Let's start with this 1:0. From the perspective of the course of the game, the two sides are basically evenly matched, with 50% of the possession rate each, which is evenly divided. The difference in the number of shots on goal is not large, but Iran has a better ability to seize opportunities and score a goal. However, Iran only had this kick on target, and Bulgaria was even more embarrassed, with zero shots on target throughout the game. Considering that Iran can win the opponent away from home, it can be seen that their strength really has a certain advantage.
If such arguments had been put in the 90s, they would have been drowned out by saliva. At that time, Bulgaria was in its golden age, and players such as Stoichkov and Balakov made Bulgaria reach the semi-final position of the World Cup. If the two sides meet at that time, Iran will not be qualified. But Bulgaria has declined rapidly since the turn of the century, and today they may only be a fourth-rate team in European football. Therefore, Iran's away defeat of Bulgaria is not a remarkable result.
In fact, if we look at the situation in Group G, where Bulgaria is located, it is easy to find the positioning of Iran. Now Group G is a typical situation of two strong gates, Hungary and Serbia will not have much problem to advance together, while the strength of the other three teams has obviously decreased, and it is basically impossible to counterattack and enter the top two. In particular, Bulgaria, which finished at the bottom, and Lithuania, which had two points, could only play the European Preliminary Round as a friendly match. Although Iran can defeat Bulgaria, which is at the bottom, if they are placed in this group, they are only below the two strong and above the two weak. Obviously, Iran is difficult to compete with Serbia and Hungary, but it is stronger than Bulgaria and Lithuania, and the advantage is not small. As for Montenegro, which is in third place, it should be about the same strength as Iran. Maybe Iran is slightly stronger.
However, in any case, if Iran is in this group, at most it can take third, it is too difficult to break into the top two and directly advance, and can only hope to get a play-off opportunity.
In fact, the Korean side is similar. The gap between South Korea and Wales is certainly much smaller than that between Iran and Bulgaria. If South Korea come to Group D, where Wales is located, it will be difficult for them to beat Turkey and Croatia, but they can wrestle with the dark horse Armenia. In short, South Korea's ceiling will also be third in the group. Unless there is luck against the sky and super level of play.
In Asian football, Japan has perhaps the best chance of finishing second in the group stage of the European Qualifiers. Now Japan can already be regarded as the world's second-rate team, whether it is against Turkey, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, Japan gives people the feeling that there are a dozen.