Tournament football always has the potential to produce an upset or two.
Even by those expectations, the 2023 AFC Asian Cup -- still in the group stage -- is already promising to be one for the underdogs.
Already on Saturday, record four-time champions Japan had fallen to a shock 2-1 loss to Iraq -- a result which could have longer-term implications on their title prospects.
And just 24 hours later, fellow powerhouses South Korea almost suffered a similar fate.
Things were initially looking like business as usual when Son Heung-Min fired them ahead from the penalty spot after nine minutes, only for Jordan to snatch the lead by the break courtesy of a Park Yong-Woo own goal and an exquisite long-range effort by Yazan Al-Naimat.
The second half then saw the South Koreans completely dominate proceedings but really struggle to find a way past a resilient Jordanian defence until the 91st minute, when Yazan Al-Arab -- who had himself forced Park into putting the ball into his own goal -- suffered the same ignominy as he got an attempt to clear a Hwang In-beom attempt wrong to hand the opposition the equaliser for a 2-2 draw.
The result was far from the worst for South Korea but, from a broader perspective, it was another sign of how the gulf in quality between Asia's leading contenders and the chasing back is slowly but surely closing.
The South Koreans still have not tasted defeat to Jordan in seven meetings now, yet they so nearly did.
Japan's loss to Iraq the previous day was their first in the group stage of an Asian Cup since their tournament debut in 1988.
Even fancied teams with perfect records so far have not had it easy.
Iran, another one of the title favourites, famously mustered a win over Wales at the last FIFA World Cup just over a year ago.
On Saturday, they toiled to a 1-0 victory over Hong Kong -- the lowest-ranked nation in the entire tournament who are currently a staggering 129 places below Team Melli in 150th.
Even Australia were made to work for both their wins over India and Syria, while defending champions and hosts Qatar struggled for a 1-0 triumph over Tajikistan, who are making their first appearance at the Asian Cup six failed attempts previously dating all the way back to 1996.
Fortunately for these more-illustrious teams, if there was ever a time to have a minor stumble, it is in the group stage -- when there is room for error.
The likes of Japan and South Korea should still make it the round of 16 even if they now need results in their final group-stage games to guarantee their progress.
Once they reach the knockout round, that is when the cream usually rises to the top -- and it would require real bravery to bet against them then.
Yet, it is a huge positive for football in the continent that the level of competition is far more intense, which was not the sentiment in some quarters when the Asian Cup was first expanded to a 24-team competition in 2019.
Whether or not that leads to a surprise champion this year remains to be seen.
But the underdogs are certainly promising to give it a real go.