This question could be taken from the political perspective or from the football perspective. Given I am sports bettor with no political insight and a large stake on Syria’s next 2 matches, this post is more interested in who the Syrian national soccer team are in the footballing sense.

Who are the players?

In Australian football a lot is made of whether our national team players are playing club football in the top European leagues. In the case of Syria, the answer is emphatically no. All but 1 of Syria’s 29-man squad play in Syria and the surrounding countries. The 1 exception plays in China.

For comparison here is where the Syrian and Australian team members ply their trade

Where Syrians play club football

Syria: 13

Iraq: 4

Kuwait: 3

Qatar: 2

Saudi Arabia: 2

China: 1

Egypt: 1

Jordan: 1

Lebanon: 1

UAE: 1

Where Australians play club football

England: 7 (3 in the 2nd division)

Australia: 4

Germany: 3 (2 in the 2nd division)

China: 2 (1 in the 2nd division)

Switzerland: 2

Belgium: 1

Japan: 1

Norway: 1

Portugal: 1

Scotland: 1

Spain: 1

UAE: 1


Syria has 2 players playing in countries whose national team is likely to make the World Cup (Saudi Arabia).

From a smaller 25-man squad, not including those playing in Australia or 2nd divisions, there are 11 Socceroos players playing in countries whose national team is likely to make the World Cup.

Asian world cup qualifying

Syria scored decisive goals in injury time in 4 out of their last 5 Word Cup qualification matches! By decisive I mean goals that changed the result of the game from a Syrian loss to a draw or from a draw to a Syrian win.

This shows the Syrian team have a tough, never say die attitude and fight doggedly to the last second of every game. It also shows that they got bloody lucky to get through to the playoffs! If any 1 of those 4 injury time goals did not go in Syria would have been eliminated.

They fact that Syria did not get to play at home throughout the campaign more than makes up for the argument that they got lucky with late goals. However the no home game factor is a constant that will still apply in Syria’s upcoming tie against Australia and the foreseeable future after that.

Conclusion

I respect what Syria’s golden generation have done so far in World Cup qualifying. Having said that I fully expect Australia to beat them in the upcoming 2-leg tie.

Syria have no home game and Australia will have 2nd leg home advantage. Syria’s squad play in lower quality club competitions than the Australians do.

However, nothing is more dangerous than underestimating your opponent. I know the Socceroos will not consciously underestimate Syria. The Socceroos have nothing to feel superior about given their recent results and performances.

From the political perspective

From the outside it appears the Syrian national soccer team are a tool that the Assad dictatorship uses to advance their violent and repressive agenda [1] [2]. The regime has

  • Forced top soccer players to show support for the regime by marching, wearing T-shirts and carrying banners that are pro Assad.
  • Tortured and murdered dozens of top soccer players who refused to toe the regime’s line.
  • Used soccer grounds as bases from which to carry out offensive military operations that murder innocent civilians.

The degree to which the Syrian national team has been politicized is against FIFAs principle of political neutrality. Many other national teams have been suspended from FIFA competition for far less political interference in football matters. FIFA has put this case in the too hard basket, partly because the Assad regime’s main ally is hosting the World Cup next year.

Or that could all be propaganda, what do I know? It begs the question of whether an opposing federation could appeal the result after losing to Syria in a World Cup qualification playoff. They could argue that if the rules were followed and applied equally then Syria would have been suspended.

BC.Game Casino
Check Icon
Top Betting Site
Check Icon
Native tokens
Check Icon
Large selection of games
Logo image for Bitcoin Logo image for Litecoin Logo image for Dogecoin Logo image for Ethereum Logo image for Monero
+9
Logo image for Bitcoin Cash Logo image for Ripple Logo image for Tron Logo image for Zcash Logo image for Tether Logo image for EOS Logo image for Binance Logo image for Cardano Logo image for Busd
Play Now Arrow
Sportsbet.io
Check Icon
Easy site navigation
Check Icon
Large selection of bets & odds
Check Icon
Impressive range of bonuses
Logo image for Bitcoin Logo image for Ethereum Logo image for Tether Logo image for Litecoin Logo image for Ripple
+5
Logo image for Tron Logo image for Cardano Logo image for Dogecoin Logo image for Binance Logo image for Dash
Play Now Arrow
Coinplay
Check Icon
Instant withdrawal
Check Icon
High payout limits
Check Icon
Great offers & promotions
Logo image for Bitcoin Logo image for Litecoin Logo image for Dash Logo image for Dogecoin Logo image for Ethereum
+17
Logo image for Monero Logo image for Bitcoin Cash Image for qtum Logo image for Ripple Logo image for Tron Logo image for Zcash Logo image for Tether Logo image for EOS Logo image for USD Coin Logo image for Trueusd tusd Logo image for Binance Image for Dai Logo image for Solana sol Logo image for Cardano Image for polkadot Logo image for Shiba Inu Logo image for Busd
Play Now Arrow
Image for N1 Bet star-rating 4.5/5
N1Bet Casino
Check Icon
Crypto sportsbook
Check Icon
Crypto Casino
Check Icon
Weekly promotions
Logo image for Bitcoin Logo image for Litecoin Logo image for Dogecoin Logo image for Ethereum Logo image for Bitcoin Cash
+1
Logo image for Tether
Play Now Arrow
Logo image for Bitsler star-rating 4.5/5
Bitsler Casino
Check Icon
Great Customer Support
Check Icon
Low fees
Logo image for Bitcoin Logo image for Litecoin Logo image for Dash Logo image for Dogecoin Logo image for Ethereum
+12
Image for digibyte Image for bitcoin gold Logo image for Bitcoin Cash Image for ethereum classic Image for qtum Logo image for Ripple Logo image for Tron Logo image for Zcash Logo image for Tether Logo image for EOS Image for bitcoin sv Image for neo
Play Now Arrow
Vlad Hategan photo

Vlad Hategan

Author

90 Articles

More by Vlad Hategan Read more arrow

In my career, I wrote for companies like Daily Coin or Crypto Banter while also writing social media content for a number of projects - including NFTs and tokens.