2023 AFC Asian Cup

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2023 AFC Asian Cup
AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023
كأس آسيا 2023
Tournament details
Host countryQatar
Dates12 January – 10 February 2024
Teams24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)9 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Qatar (2nd title)
Runners-up Jordan
Tournament statistics
Matches played51
Goals scored132 (2.59 per match)
Attendance1,507,790 (29,565 per match)
Top scorer(s)Qatar Akram Afif (8 goals)
Best player(s)Qatar Akram Afif[1]
Best goalkeeperQatar Meshaal Barsham[2]
Fair play award Qatar
2019
2027

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 2019, with the host Qatar the defending champions.[3][4]

On 17 October 2022, the AFC announced that the

sponsorship and logistical purposes.[6][7]

Hosts and defending champions Qatar successfully retained their title, defeating Jordan 3–1 in the final.[8]

Host selection

China was acclaimed as the host country on 4 June 2019, as sole finishing bidder, days just prior to the 69th FIFA Congress in Paris, France.[9] The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from 16 June to 16 July 2023.[10] On 14 May 2022, the AFC announced that China would not host the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic and China's Zero-COVID policy.[11] Due to China's relinquishment of its hosting rights,[12][13] the AFC conducted a second round of bidding, with a deadline for submissions scheduled on 17 October 2022.[14] Four nations submitted bids: Australia, Indonesia, Qatar, and South Korea.[15] However, Australia subsequently withdrew in September 2022,[16] as did Indonesia on 15 October.[17] On 17 October, the AFC announced that Qatar had won the bid and would host the tournament.[5]

Venues

Five host cities were submitted in the 2023 bid, including seven stadiums previously prepared for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On 5 April 2023, the AFC announced the eight stadiums across four host cities for the tournament.[18] On 21 August 2023, Lusail Stadium was added as a ninth venue.[19] All but one (Stadium 974) of the host stadiums from the 2022 FIFA World Cup were selected for the tournament, along with Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, which hosted matches during the 2011 edition, and Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, which had not hosted any international tournament previously.

Lusail Stadium hosted the opening match on 12 January.[19] Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan and Al Thumama Stadium in Doha hosted the semi-final matches, with Lusail hosted the final held on 10 February.[19]

On 5 January 2024, the Main Media Centre for the coverage of the tournament was officially inaugurated in Msheireb Downtown Doha.[20]

City Stadium Capacity
Al Khor Al Bayt Stadium 68,895
Lusail Lusail Stadium 88,966
Al Rayyan Ahmad bin Ali Stadium 45,032
Education City Stadium 44,667
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium 15,000
Khalifa International Stadium 45,857
Doha Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium 10,000
Al Thumama Stadium 44,400
Al Wakrah Al Janoub Stadium 44,325

Teams

  Qualified for Asian Cup
  Failed to qualify
  Disqualified or withdrew
  Not an AFC member

The first two rounds of qualification also served as the Asian qualification for the 2022 World Cup. Qatar, the host of the World Cup, participated only in the second round to qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup (which they were later selected as hosts for after China withdrew its hosting rights).

Qualified teams

Of the 24 teams appearing, 20 teams were returning after appearing in the 2019 edition.

Tajikistan were the only debutant in the competition, while Hong Kong marked their return for the first time in 56 years. Indonesia and Malaysia both qualified for the first time since hosting the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

Four nations from the previous edition failed to qualify (North Korea, Turkmenistan, Yemen, and the Philippines). India was the only SAFF representative in this edition, while it was the first time that five teams from the AFF managed to reach the finals (Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam). Only two teams from WAFF failed to qualify for this tournament (Yemen and Kuwait). Iran meanwhile extended their qualification record; this was their fifteenth straight appearance in the tournament, having qualified for every edition since 1968.

Team Method of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Finals
appearance
Last
appearance
Previous best
performance
 China Original hosts and second round Group A runners-up 4 June 2019[a] 13th 2019 Runners-up (1984, 2004)
 Japan Second round Group F winners 28 May 2021 10th 2019 Winners (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
 Syria Second round Group A winners 7 June 2021 7th 2019 Group stage (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011, 2019)
 Qatar Hosts and Second round Group E winners 7 June 2021 11th 2019 Winners (2019)
 South Korea Second round Group H winners 9 June 2021 15th 2019 Winners (1956, 1960)
 Australia Second round Group B winners 11 June 2021 5th 2019 Winners (2015)
 Iran Second round Group C winners 15 June 2021 15th 2019 Winners (1968, 1972, 1976)
 Saudi Arabia Second round Group D winners 15 June 2021 11th 2019 Winners (1984, 1988, 1996)
 United Arab Emirates Second round Group G winners 15 June 2021 11th 2019 Runners-up (1996)
 Iraq Second round Group C runners-up 15 June 2021 10th 2019 Winners (2007)
 Oman Second round Group E runners-up 15 June 2021 5th 2019 Round of 16 (2019)
 Vietnam Second round Group G runners-up 15 June 2021 5th 2019 Fourth place (1956,[b] 1960[b])
 Lebanon Second round Group H runners-up 15 June 2021 3rd 2019 Group stage (2000, 2019)
 Palestine Third round Group B winners 14 June 2022 3rd 2019 Group stage (2015, 2019)
 Uzbekistan Third round Group C winners 14 June 2022 8th 2019 Fourth place (2011)
 Thailand Third round Group C runners-up 14 June 2022 8th 2019 Third place (1972)
 India Third round Group D winners 14 June 2022 5th 2019 Runners-up (1964)
 Hong Kong Third round Group D runners-up 14 June 2022 4th 1968 Third place (1956)
 Tajikistan Third round Group F winners 14 June 2022 1st Debut None
 Kyrgyzstan Third round Group F runners-up 14 June 2022 2nd 2019 Round of 16 (2019)
 Bahrain Third round Group E winners 14 June 2022 7th 2019 Fourth place (2004)
 Malaysia Third round Group E runners-up 14 June 2022 4th 2007 Group stage (1976, 1980, 2007)
 Jordan Third round Group A winners 14 June 2022 5th 2019 Quarter-finals (2004, 2011)
 Indonesia Third round Group A runners-up 14 June 2022 5th 2007 Group stage (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
  1. ^ China was awarded hosting rights on 4 June 2019. They later finished as second round Group A runners-up on 15 June 2021, which would earn them a qualification regardless of the hosting status. China later withdrew their hosting rights on 14 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b As South Vietnam

Draw

The draw was held at the Katara Opera House in Doha on 11 May 2023.[21]

From the April 2023
FIFA World Rankings[22]
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
 Qatar (61) (hosts)
 Japan (20)
 Iran (24)
 South Korea (27)
 Australia (29)
 Saudi Arabia (54)
 Iraq (67)
 United Arab Emirates (72)
 Oman (73)
 Uzbekistan (74)
 China (81)
 Jordan (84)
 Bahrain (85)
 Syria (90)
 Palestine (93)
 Vietnam (95)
 Kyrgyzstan (96)
 Lebanon (99)
 India (101)
 Tajikistan (109)
 Thailand (114)
 Malaysia (138)
 Hong Kong (147)
 Indonesia (149)

Draw result

Teams were drawn into Groups A to F. For the first time in AFC Asian Cup history, the teams from lowest pots were drawn first but not assigned to the positions of their groups, following by number orders of the group stage, as in previous editions. Pot 1 teams were assigned to the first positions of their groups, while next the positions of all other teams were drawn separately from Pot 4 to 2 (for the purposes of determining the match schedules in each group).

The groups were confirmed following the draw:

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Qatar
A2  China
A3  Tajikistan
A4  Lebanon
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Australia
B2  Uzbekistan
B3  Syria
B4  India
Group C
Pos Team
C1  Iran
C2  United Arab Emirates
C3  Hong Kong
C4  Palestine
Group D
Pos Team
D1  Japan
D2  Indonesia
D3  Iraq
D4  Vietnam
Group E
Pos Team
E1  South Korea
E2  Malaysia
E3  Jordan
E4  Bahrain
Group F
Pos Team
F1  Saudi Arabia
F2  Thailand
F3  Kyrgyzstan
F4  Oman

Squads

Each team was required to registered a squad with a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players, at least three of whom had to be goalkeepers.[23] In December 2023, the maximum was increased to 26 players.[24]

Officiating