As many as 10 teams were led by different coaches when the first two matchdays were played last November.

Qatar, who were led by Carlos Queiroz when they kicked off their campaign with two wins, subsequently parted ways with the Portuguese.

Marquez Lopez stepped in as Queiroz’s replacement, with the Spaniard guiding Qatar to a successful defence of the AFC Asian Cup title on home soil, which was rewarded with a permanent appointment as head coach till 2026.

Group C will see all four teams led by new head coaches, with Hwang Sun-hong the interim head coach of leaders Korea Republic following the departure of Jurgen Klinsmann after the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™.

Masatada Ishii will be in charge of Thailand, having taken over from Alexandre Polking after the opening two matches of the Qualifiers, with the Japanese tactician having the advantage of having steered the Southeast Asian team into the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 knockout stage.

The highly experienced Branko Ivankovic is China PR’s head coach, with the Croatian leaving Oman after the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.

Ivankovic replaced Aleksandar Jankovic, who stepped down after China PR failed to advance past the group stage of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.

The fourth new face in Group C is Tsutomu Ogura, with the Japanese replacing compatriot Takayuki Nishigaya as the Singapore head coach.

Ivankovic’s replacement as Oman head coach is fellow Croatian Jaroslav Silhavy, with his first task being to rein in Malaysia who lead Group D with six points.

Philippines, who need to revive their Group F campaign after picking up just a point from their earlier two matches, will be led by Belgian Tom Saintfiet.

Georgian Gela Shekiladze has replaced the highly popular Petar Segrt as Tajikistan head coach, with the Central Asian side determined to carry their AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 form into the qualifiers, having garnered four points from their earlier matches in Group G of the qualifiers.

Bahrain, on three points in Group H, turned to Dragan Talajic after the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, the Croatian replacing Spaniard Juan Antonio Pizzi.

Miodrag Radulovic, who returned as Lebanon head coach just before the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, will look to kickstart the West Asian side’s campaign after two draws.