The undisputed icon of Filipino football, with more appearances and more goals for the Azkals than any other player, striker Phil Younghusband's involvement with the Philippines national team goes back to 2006 when he and older brother James made their international bows.

Nationality: The Philippines
Date of birth: 04/08/1987
Position: Striker
Current club: Davao Aguilas (Philippines)
Previous clubs: Meralco Manila, San Beda FC (both Philippines), Esbjerg fB (Denmark), Chelsea (England)

Just a few months after leaving his boyhood club Kashima to join Bundesliga side Schalke 04, Uchida was called up for the Samurai Blue as coach Alberto Zaccheroni looked to lead Japan to a record fourth continental title.

Milligan, who has been capped 72 times for Australia, was the 56th player to wear the captain’s armband when he led the Socceroos against Korea Republic in Seoul in July 2013. He has since led the side on 11 occasions.

Milligan succeeds Mile Jedinak who announced his retirement from international football in October this year.

Arnold said the Sydney-born defender is a natural choice as one of the senior leaders in the Socceroos squad.

“As we embark on a new era we look to leaders like Mark,” Arnold said. “Mark has been a part of the national team for 12 years now. The experience gained over that period is invaluable to our squad and his leadership on and off the park shines through every day."

While Asia's biggest teams took their customary place in the glittering draw in Dubai last May, there are several national sides who will be making their debuts in the Finals or returning to the Continental showpiece after having missed out on several editions.

In recent years, Russia-based forward Sardar Azmoun has been where the hype has centred, but that started to change during the 2017-18 season when right-sided midfielder Jahanbakhsh finished as top scorer in the Netherlands’ Eredivisie with AZ Alkmaar.

Nationality: IR Iran
Date of birth: 11/08/1993
Position: Midfield
Current club: Brighton & Hove Albion (England)
Previous clubs: AZ Alkmaar, NEC (both Netherlands), Damash Gilan, Damash Tehran (both Iran)

If Omar Abdulrahman was the poster boy for the United Arab Emirates’ success in reaching the AFC Asian Cup last time out in Australia, and finishing third, then Ali Mabkhout was the side’s most productive performer.

The Whites’ number 7 was the tournament’s top goalscorer in 2015, bagging five goals in six appearances, including the fastest ever goal in the history of the AFC Asian Cup, scored 14 seconds into the UAE’s group stage match against Bahrain.

Over the years, the AFC Asian Cup has produced some brilliant footballers and coaches. So, we gave fans the opportunity to vote for who they considered as the greatest 11 players in the competition's history.

After 2.6 million votes on the-AFC.com over the past few weeks, it is now time to announce the players who made the final XI alongside six substitutes who narrowly missed out on a starting XI place.