Kuala Lumpur, January 07 (QNA) - The Asian Football Confederation shed light on five rising stars, who are expected to leave a mark as their teams compete in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, set to kick off on January 12 with the participation of 24 national teams.

While Son Heung-min, Mehdi Taremi, Ali Mabkhout and Wataru Endo will be some of the most high-profile names in action during the 18th edition of the tournament, there are also plenty of up-and-coming stars who will be hoping to elevate their status over the coming month, said The AFC in an article on its website today.

The article focused on five rising footballer including Iraq's Ali Jasim, who was a revelation during the AFC Champions League 2023/24 group stage as the teenager found the back of the net four times two of them coming on his tournament debut against Sepahan for Air Force Club who narrowly missed out on a Round of 16 berth from Group C.

However, keen followers of Asian football were not surprised by the rapid rise of Jasim who was one of the stars of the AFC U20 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2023. There, the youngster produced an injury-time winner against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the quarter-final which also helped Iraq qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023.

After clocking only a little over 90 minutes at the FIFA World Cup last year, Japan's 22-year-old Takefusa Kubo returns to Qatar set to play a starring role for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup runners-up Japan this time around as they look to go one step further by winning a record-extending fifth Asian title.

Despite making his debut for Hajime Moriyasu's side shortly after turning 18 in 2019, it took some time for Kubo to develop into a regular for the East Asian nation. However, having scored his first goal for Japan in 2022, he is now an integral part of a team that has won nine games in a row since June 2023.

The winger has also shone brightly in Spain, scoring nine goals and being a key creator last season to help steer Real Sociedad into the UEFA Champions League for the first time in a decade. And he has already netted six times in La Liga this season for La Real who are once again aiming to finish among the top four.

Uzbekstan's Abbosbek Fayzullaev burst onto the scene during the AFC U23 Asian Cup in 2022 when Uzbekistan finished runners-up before they went one step further the following year, winning the AFC U20 Asian Cup with Fayzullaev emerging as the MVP of the tournament.

Making his senior Uzbekistan debut at 19, Fayzullaev only had to wait until his second cap to score his maiden goal in a 5-1 win against Tajikistan in the CAFA (Central Asian Football Association) Nations Cup last June.

Brushing aside concerns about limited playing time after signing for a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain side last summer, South Korea's Lee Kang-in has quickly established himself as an important member of Luis Enrique's PSG squad who are challenging for titles both domestically and in Europe.

Starring regularly alongside Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, the 22-year-old Korea Republic international is having a fruitful debut season in the French capital and recently opened the scoring as the Parisians overcame Toulouse 2-0 and lifted the French Champions Trophy.

Arif Aiman has had a year like no other for Malaysian giants Johor Darul Ta'zim. The 21-year-old winger scored 12 goals and provided a hatful of assists as JDT secured the Malaysia Super League title for the 10th season running while he also netted thrice in the AFC Champions League group stage.

Arif replicated that form on the international stage too be it when he bagged four goals in Malaysia's 10-0 win against Papua New Guinea in a friendly in June or his hat-trick of assists in November's 4-3 win against Kyrgyz Republic in the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027. (QNA)