Between the ِAFC Asian Cup 2019 finals that took place in the UAE, and the current combined qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 in China, a significant change of players’ market value has occurred despite the Corona pandemic that struck the world. This change in player’s value significantly changed the ranking of the teams of the Asian continent. There are 39 teams participating in the current qualifiers after the withdrawal of North Korea, and they were divided into 8 groups, each of which includes 5 teams. 12 teams have qualified for the third round.
These variables that occur in the market value are an indication of the strength or weakness of the teams. In the 2019 Asian Cup, South Korea was at the forefront of the table with a market value of 84 million and 300,000 euros, but it fell to second place, despite its value rising to 126 million and 380 thousand euros, compared to Japan’s rise to the top now with 144 million euros. It is noteworthy that the Australian team fell to fourth place after its market value fell from 50 million and 600 thousand euros to 36 million and 500 thousand euros, while Iran climbed to third place from the value of 45 million and 350 thousand euros up to 79 million and 330 thousand euros.
The Saudi team leads the market value of the Arab Asian teams participating in the current qualifiers with 25 million 780 thousand, and occupies seventh place in the general ranking of the Asian continent, with an increase of more than 5 million euros from 2019. The UAE team ranked second among the Arabs of Asia With a value of 22 million 380 thousand euros, a double value of 2019, which was 8 million and 580 thousand, to rise from the tenth in 2019 to the eighth continental, then Qatar with 16 million and 430 thousand, and Iraq, which rose from 5 million and 380 thousand to 10 million and 280 thousand.
Asian Players Valuations
| # | Player | Age | Nationality | Market value |
| 1 | Heung-min Son | 28 | Korea Rep | €85.00m |
| Left Winger | ||||
| 2 | Sardar Azmoun | 26 | Iran | €40.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 3 | Daichi Kamada | 24 | Japan | €25.00m |
| Attacking Midfield | ||||
| 4 | Takehiro Tomiyasu | 22 | Japan | €20.00m |
| Centre-Back | ||||
| 5 | Mehdi Taremi | 28 | Iran | €16.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 6 | Takefusa Kubo | 20 | Japan | €15.00m |
| Right Winger | ||||
| 7 | Takumi Minamino | 26 | Japan | €12.00m |
| Left Winger | ||||
| 8 | Hee-chan Hwang | 25 | Korea Rep | €11.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 9 | Wataru Endo | 28 | Japan | €10.00m |
| Defensive Midfield | ||||
| 10 | Kang-in Lee | 20 | Korea Rep | €10.00m |
| Attacking Midfield | ||||
| 11 | Aaron Mooy | 30 | Australia | €8.50m |
| Central Midfield | ||||
| 12 | Junya Ito | 28 | Japan | €8.00m |
| Right Winger | ||||
| 13 | Ritsu Doan | 23 | Japan | €7.00m |
| Right Winger | ||||
| 14 | Eldor Shomurodov | 25 | Uzbekistan | €7.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 15 | Mathew Ryan | 29 | Australia | €6.00m |
| Goalkeeper | ||||
| 16 | Alireza Jahanbakhsh | 27 | Iran | €5.00m |
| Right Winger | ||||
| 17 | Ui-jo Hwang | 28 | Korea Rep | €5.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 18 | Omar Al-Somah | 32 | Syria | €5.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 19 | Harry Souttar | 22 | Australia | €4.00m |
| Centre-Back | ||||
| 20 | Elkeson | 31 | China | €4.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 21 | Lei Wu | 29 | China | €4.00m |
| Left Winger | ||||
| 22 | Hiroki Sakai | 31 | Japan | €4.00m |
| Right-Back | ||||
| 23 | Ali Mabkhout | 30 | UAE | €4.00m |
| Centre-Forward | ||||
| 24 | Ali Gholizadeh | 25 | Iran | €3.70m |
| Right Winger | ||||
| 25 | Shoya Nakajima | 26 | Japan | €3.50m |
| Left Midfield |
As far as the teams are concerned, Japan is the undisputed top team in Asia. A country that has planned its progress for over four decades ago, is now repeating the benefit of its hard work in every department. Not only they administer and manage their football to perfection in Japan. Unlike some other nations such as Saudi Arabia and China which opted to spend a huge amount of money to gain success, the Japanese program embodied a culture, sense of responsibility, education, strong infrastructure, and emphasis on grass-root football to develop and progress. As such this Japanese model is exemplary and produced quality players that are now working in the best leagues of Europe. Soon, Japan will also produce quality coaches from the generation that has retired. It is only a matter of time.
As a team, Japan is the most expensive in Asia.
AFC National Teams Valuations
| RNK | TEAM | Team Value | In US$ |
| 1 | Japan | € 144,000,000.00 | $ 171,086,400.00 |
| 2 | Korea Republic | € 126,380,000.00 | $ 150,152,078.00 |
| 3 | IR Iran | € 79,330,000.00 | $ 94,251,973.00 |
| 4 | Australia | € 36,500,000.00 | $ 43,365,650.00 |
| 5 | Uzbekistan | € 27,650,000.00 | $ 32,850,965.00 |
| 6 | Saudi Arabia | € 25,780,000.00 | $ 30,629,218.00 |
| 7 | China PR | € 23,850,000.00 | $ 28,336,185.00 |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates | € 22,380,000.00 | $ 26,589,678.00 |
| 9 | Qatar | € 16,430,000.00 | $ 19,520,483.00 |
| 10 | Iraq | € 10,280,000.00 | $ 12,213,668.00 |
| 11 | Jordan | € 6,700,000.00 | $ 7,960,270.00 |
| 12 | Vietnam | € 5,650,000.00 | $ 6,712,765.00 |
| 13 | Syria | € 5,151,000.00 | $ 6,119,903.10 |
| 14 | Oman | € 3,580,000.00 | $ 4,253,398.00 |
| 15 | Palestine | € 3,380,000.00 | $ 4,015,778.00 |
| 16 | Lebanon | € 2,980,000.00 | $ 3,540,538.00 |