2019 AFC Asian Cup final
Event | 2019 AFC Asian Cup | ||||||
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Date | 1 February 2019 | ||||||
Venue | Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi | ||||||
Man of the Match | Akram Afif (Qatar)[1] | ||||||
Referee | Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)[2] | ||||||
Attendance | 36,776[3] | ||||||
Weather | Clear 24 °C (75 °F) 53% humidity[4] | ||||||
The 2019 AFC Asian Cup final was a football match which determined the winner of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of the Asian Football Confederation. The match was held at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 1 February 2019 and was contested by Japan and Qatar.
Japan had won in each of its four previous AFC Asian Cup finals, while Qatar were playing in their first, which they managed to reach without conceding a goal in the prior six matches. Qatar won the final 3–1 for their first AFC Asian Cup title, scoring twice in the first half and earning a late penalty in the second half. For Japan, this was their first defeat in an Asian Cup final. Qatari fans were largely unable to attend the tournament due to the
Venue
Route to the final
Japan | Round | Qatar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Opponents | Result | Group stage | Opponents | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turkmenistan | 3–2 | Match 1 | Lebanon | 2–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oman | 1–0 | Match 2 | North Korea | 6–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Uzbekistan | 2–1 | Match 3 | Saudi Arabia | 2–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group F winners
Source: AFC |
Final standings | Group E winners
Source: AFC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opponents | Result | Knockout stage | Opponents | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | Round of 16 | Iraq | 1–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vietnam | 1–0 | Quarter-finals | South Korea | 1–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iran | 3–0 | Semi-finals | United Arab Emirates | 4–0 |
Japan
Japan is the most successful nation at the Asian Cup, having won it a record four times—most recently in 2011.[11] They qualified for the 2019 tournament by topping Group E with an undefeated record of seven wins and one draw, scoring 27 goals and conceding none.[12] After the team reached the round of 16 during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, head coach Akira Nishino was replaced by Hajime Moriyasu, who had assisted Nishino and served as coach of the under-23 team preparing for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[13] Moriyasu elected to exclude several veteran players in his Asian Cup squad, including midfielder Shinji Kagawa and striker Shinji Okazaki, with the goal of exposing younger, in-form players to international competition.[14][15] Under Moriyasu's tenure, Japan was undefeated in five matches before the start of the Asian Cup.[16]
In their opening match of the Asian Cup, Japan faced Turkmenistan and conceded a goal in the 26th minute, a long-range strike by Arslanmyrat Amanow, and entered halftime trailing 1–0. Japan took the lead in the second half with a brace from Yuya Osako, who scored in the 56th and 60th minutes, and added a third goal by Ritsu Dōan eleven minutes later. The lead was cut back to 3–2 by a penalty kick scored in the 78th minute by Ahmet Ataýew.[17] Moriyasu acknowledged that the team struggled in the match against Turkmenistan and praised their performance before adding that they would need to improve in order to advance from the group stage.[18] In their second match against Oman, Japan had several early chances that they failed to convert into goals before earning a penalty in the 28th minute for a tackle on Genki Haraguchi, who scored. The 1–0 win, which came with Oman being denied a penalty for an alleged handball in the first half, saw Japan qualify for the knockout round.[19][20] Moriyasu fielded an entirely new starting lineup, save for forward Koya Kitagawa, for the final group stage match against Uzbekistan. Japan and clinched a first-place finish in Group F through a come-from-behind 2–1 victory over Uzbekistan. After conceding a goal in the 40th minute, Japan responded with a header scored by Yoshinori Muto in the 43rd minute and a long-distance strike by Tsukasa Shiotani in the 58th minute.[21]
The Samurai Blue faced
Qatar
Qatar has participated in nine previous editions of the Asian Cup, advancing twice from the group stage in
In the second round of the Asian Cup qualification tournament, Qatar placed first with a record of seven wins and one loss—including a 15–0 victory over
Qatar were drawn into Group E and opened their Asian Cup campaign against Lebanon, winning 2–0 on second-half goals by center-back Bassam Al-Rawi and forward Almoez Ali.[39] It was the first time that Qatar had won an Asian Cup match hosted in another country.[40] In their second match, facing North Korea in front of an announced attendance of 452 spectators at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Qatar won 6–0 with four goals by Ali to reach the knockout round, which became Qatar's largest ever victory in their Asian Cup history.[41][42] The final group stage match against Saudi Arabia was nicknamed the "Blockade Derby", referencing the land, air, and sea blockade, and was won 2–0 by Qatar with two goals scored by Almoez Ali to top their group comfortably.[43][44]
The team faced
Pre-match
Officials
Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov was selected to lead the officiating team for the final, which was announced by the AFC on 30 January 2019.[2][52] He previously officiated at three FIFA World Cups, the 2012 Summer Olympics, FIFA Club World Cup, and the FIFA Confederations Cup.[53] The final is Irmatov's fifth match as referee during the tournament, having officiated two group stage matches and two knockout matches. His compatriots Abdukhamidullo Rasulov and Jakhongir Saidov were chosen as assistant referees, while Chinese referee Ma Ning was the fourth official. Italian Paolo Valeri was named the video assistant referee, presiding over the first use of the technology in the final of the Asian Cup. Muhammad Taqi of Singapore and Chris Beath of Australia were the assistant video assistant referees for the match.[2][54]
Qatari players' eligibility
On 30 January 2019, soon after the hosts lost to Qatar in the semi-finals, the United Arab Emirates Football Association (UAEFA) lodged a formal appeal to the AFC over the eligibility of Sudanese-born striker Almoez Ali and Iraqi-born defender Bassam Al-Rawi, claiming that they did not qualify to play for Qatar.[55] The appeal was filed on residency grounds per Article 7 of the FIFA statutes, which states a player is eligible to play for a representative team if he has "lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association".[56][57] It was alleged by the UAEFA that Ali and Al-Rawi had not lived continuously in Qatar for at least five years over the age of 18, although the players claimed that their mothers were born in Qatar.[55][58] On 1 February 2019, hours prior to the final, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee ruled in favour of Qatar national team and dismissed the protest lodged by the UAEFA.[59][60]
Match
Summary
The match kicked off at 18:00
Japan regained possession and found several scoring chances before and after halftime, including a missed header from Yoshinori Muto and several corner kicks, but were unable to produce a shot on goal.[63] Qatar received an early chance to score their third goal in the 56th minute on a counterattack, but the shot by Hatem went over the crossbar.[62][63] The lead was cut to 2–1 with a 69th-minute goal from close range by Takumi Minamino—the first to be conceded by Qatar during the tournament.[63][64] Qatar were awarded a penalty kick in the 82nd minute by the video assistant referee for a handball by Japanese captain Maya Yoshida, who blocked a shot from a corner kick. The penalty was converted by Akram Afif to give Qatar a 3–1 lead that they kept until the end of the match.[61][62][65]
Details
Japan
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Qatar
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[2]
Australia )
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Match rules[66]
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Post-match
With their victory over Japan, Qatar had earned its first Asian Cup title and became the ninth country to win the tournament. They had never previously advanced past the quarter-finals.[65][67] The match was Japan's first loss in the tournament after a perfect record of six wins as well as their first loss in an Asian Cup final, having won the previous four final matches. Qatar finished the tournament with a perfect record, winning all seven matches en route to the title.[68] The match also marked the debut of a new match ball and trophy for the Asian Cup, as well as the first use of a video assistant referee during the tournament final.[69]
Qatar and Japan were both invited to also compete in the 2019 Copa América prior to the tournament.[67][75] Qatar repeated as Asian Cup champions in the 2023 edition, becoming the first team to win consecutive tournaments since Japan in 2000 and 2024.[76]
See also
References
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