I'm not gonna lie, with first-round almost being over, the tournament has been a lot more entertaining than I first imagined. Very few one-sided matches and all games should be interesting seeing 4 best 3rd teams will also make it to the next round.
Only very disappointing thing has been the lack of attendance. Almost all stadiums are empty. I wonder why that is? Is it a visa issue? Couldn't UAE do a Russia and issue visa-free Fan IDs to ticket holders? It's sad to see teams play in a major international tournament with 3k attendance. Very disappointing atmosphere so far...
Really mental to think Iran/Korea/Japan (3 of the biggest footballing superhouses of the continent) have hosted just ONE tournament in over 40 years and that being 1992 in Nihhonland.
Iran not hosting is understandable for the scumbags running the nation and no women allowed in the stadium, but I'm surprised Korea have never made a big push to host....especially since their last title came in 1960 when they hosted relatively fresh off the end of Korean war.