KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and Hong Kong have the highest number of naturalised players in the 2023 Asian Cup.
Based on a review, both teams listed 14 naturalised players in the tournament that is currently underway in Qatar, including heritage or mixed-blood players.
The squad, led by Kim Pan Gon, includes four naturalised players: Endrick Dos Santos, Mohamadou Sumareh, Paulo Josue, and Romel Morales.
Harimau Malaya also features 10 mixed-blood players: Matthew Davies, Daniel Ting, Dominic Tan, Junior Eldstal, Dion Cools, La'Vere Corbin-Ong, Stuart Wilkin, Brendan Gan, Natxo Insa, and Darren Lok.
In addition to Malaysia and Hong Kong, Lebanon and Qatar rank second with the highest number of naturalised players in the 2023 Asian Cup, with 12 players.
Palestine listed 11 naturalised players, followed by Australia (nine), Indonesia and Syria (eight), Iraq (seven), and Kyrgyzstan (three).
The full list of teams with naturalised players in the 2023 Asian Cup is as follows:
Malaysia and Hong Kong - 14
Lebanon and Qatar - 12
Palestine - 11
Australia - 9
Indonesia and Syria - 8
Iraq - 7
Kyrgyzstan - 3
Thailand, UAE, and Bahrain - 2
India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Oman, Tajikistan, and Vietnam - 1