Bahrain vs North Korea

Two teams whose ceiling is the same

Bahrain and North Korea have both finished fourth at an Asian Cup, and neither has ever done better. The two runs came twenty-four years apart and in different football worlds: North Korea in 1980, on their debut, and Bahrain in 2004.

They meet at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, one of the smaller grounds of the eight, on the opening weekend. For a first match that suits both: no crowd of seventy thousand, no host nation, and a straightforward proposition in a group where nobody has ever won the tournament.

North Korea are the unknown quantity, as usual. Six appearances across forty-seven years. Long stretches with almost no competitive football to judge them by, and a habit of arriving without form and leaving with results nobody saw coming. Bahrain, at an eighth Asian Cup since 1988, know exactly what they are and need to start well.

The two records

This is a eighth Asian Cup for Bahrain, whose best finish is fourth place (2004), against a sixth for North Korea, best fourth place (1980).