The more a person pokes around Asian Cup history — and the 2015 version of the event is ongoing — the more curious it gets. Lots of political interruptions and upheaval among various states.

Sounds like it is time for another list.

Herewith, 10 curious facts concerning Asia’s quadrennial soccer competition:

1. South Vietnam, a country which no longer exists, finished fourth at the first two Asian Cups, in 1956 and 1960. Perhaps we should note that “fourth” was “last” at both tournaments, which seemed to include only American allies during the Cold War.

2. Israel won as host in 1964, another four-team tournament, twice finished second and once finished third before the Arab states prompted Israel’s departure from the Asian Confederation by refusing to play the Jewish state. Israel joined the European federation in 1991.

3. Iran won the tournament three times in succession from 1968 to 1976. This was the Shah’s Iran. Since the foundation of the Islamic Republic, Iran’s best finish is third.

4. Iran was expected to win the 1980 Asian Cup, but Iraq invaded Iran in the middle of the Asian Cup, on September 22. Iran won its final two group games but, increasingly distracted, lost 2-1 to host Kuwait in the semifinals.

5. The UAE reached the final as hosts in 1996 and lost to Saudi via a shootout. A player who had scored key goals in the tournament missed the penalty kick that set up Saudi’s clincher.

6. India was second in 1964 and Burma was second in 1968, and neither of those will be expected to return to the tournament any time soon.

7. Saudi Arabia or Japan has won every Asian Cup since 1984 aside from one — the semi-famous 2007 triumph by Iraq, one of the great upsets in tournament history, given Iraq was in shambles at the time in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S. invasion.

8. China reached the final in 1984 and 2004, only to lose to Saudi and Japan, respectively.

9. Japan has reached four finals … and won them all, including 1-0 over Australia in 2011.

10. The Khmer Republic, the pro-U.S. regime established in 1975,  finished fourth in the 1972 tournament in Thailand, losing to the hosts in the third-place game via shootout. Not sure I have seen any other major competition that included the Khmer Republic, which was replaced by the murderous Khmer Rouge.

11. And a bonus stat. The tournament has been 16 teams since 2004, but it will expand to 24 in 2019.

For more on the Asian Cup … visit the wiki site.