2019 AFC Asian Cup

2019 AFC Asian Cup

كأس آسيا 2019
Official logo
Tournament details
Host country	United Arab Emirates
Dates	5 January – 1 February 2019
Teams	24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	8 (in 4 host cities)

The 2019 AFC Asian Cup will be the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will be held in United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 February 2019.^[1] The United Arab Emirates was announced as the host for the tournament on 9 March 2015, with Iran being the only remaining bidder for the right to host the 2019 finals.^[2] It will be the second time that the United Arab Emirates hosts the tournament after the 1996 finals.

For the first time, the Asian Cup final tournament will be contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format that had been used since 2004.^[3] Under this new format, the finalists will contest a group stage consisting of six groups of four teams, followed by a knockout stage of 16 teams.^[4] The host nation will automatically qualify for the final tournament, while the remaining 23 places will be determined among the other 45 national teams through a qualifying competition, running from March 2015 to March 2018, in which the first two rounds also serve as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process for the AFC.

Australia will be the defending champions going into the tournament, having won the previous competition in 2015. The winner of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup will earn the right to participate in the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup which is to be hosted by a yet to be determined AFC association after 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts, Qatar, lost the rights.^[5] As the 2021 Confederations Cup host country will have already qualified as hosts, if they win the Asian Cup, the runner-up will qualify.

Host selection

The bidding procedure and timeline for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup was approved at the AFC congress on 28 November 2012.^[6] The winning bid was originally set to be announced at an AFC congress in June, then November 2014.^[7] However, at its 60th Anniversary celebrations at the end of 2014, AFC gave the date of 'summer 2015' to when an announcement would be made.^[8]

In January 2015, AFC general secretary Alex Soosay said that Iran and the United Arab Emirates were the only two remaining bidders for the 2019 Asian Cup, and that the eventual hosts would be announced in March 2015.^[2]

On 9 March 2015, AFC announced the hosts during an AFC Executive Committee meeting in Manama, Bahrain.^[9]

Qualification

The 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification process will determine the 24 participating teams for the tournament. In 2014, a proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup with those of the AFC Asian Cup was ratified by the AFC Competitions Committee.^[3] The new qualification structure will take place in three stages, with the first two merging with the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.^[3] In the first round, the lowest ranked teams played home-and-away over two legs to reduce the total number of teams to 40. In the second round, the 40 teams were divided into eight groups of five to play home-and-away round-robin matches, where the eight group winners and the four best group runners-up will qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals. In the third round, the next best 24 teams eliminated from second round will be divided into six groups of four and compete for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.^[10]

The first qualifying round of the qualification took place on 12 March 2015, with the final match of the third round expected to take place on 27 March 2018.^[11][12]

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
United Arab Emirates	*Hosts !Hosts	01 !9 March 2015	10th	2015	Runners-up (1996)
Qatar	Second Round Group C winners	02 !17 November 2015	10th	2015	Quarter-finals (2000, 2011)
South Korea	Second Round Group G winners	03 !13 January 2016	14th	2015	Winners (1956, 1960)
Japan	Second Round Group E winners	04 !24 March 2016	9th	2015	Winners (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
Thailand	Second Round Group F winners	05 !24 March 2016	7th	2007	Third Place (1972)
Saudi Arabia	Second Round Group A winners	06 !24 March 2016	10th	2015	Winners (1984, 1988, 1996)
Australia	Second Round Group B winners	07 !29 March 2016	4th	2015	Winners (2015)
Uzbekistan	Second Round Group H winners	08 !29 March 2016	7th	2015	Fourth Place (2011)
Iran	Second Round Group D winners	11 !29 March 2016	14th	2015	Winners (1968, 1972, 1976)
Syria	Second Round Group E runners-up	09 !29 March 2016	6th	2011	Group Stage (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011)
Iraq	Second Round Group F runners-up	10 !29 March 2016	9th	2015	Winners (2007)
China PR	Second Round Group C runners-up	12 !29 March 2016	12th	2015	Runners-up (1984, 2004)

Venues

The eight venues to host matches are Zayed Sports City Stadium, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium and Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium and Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, Al-Maktoum Stadium and Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, and Sharjah Stadium in Sharjah.^[13]

Abu Dhabi
Zayed Sports City Stadium	Al Jazira Stadium	Al Nahyan Stadium
Capacity: 43,620 (plans to expand to 63,578)	Capacity: 42,056 (plans to expand)	Capacity: 12,000 (plans to expand)
Dubai	Abu Dhabi Sharjah Dubai Al Ain
Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium
Capacity: 12,000 (plans to expand)
Dubai
Al-Maktoum Stadium
Capacity: 12,000
Al Ain		Sharjah
Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium	Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium	Sharjah Stadium
Capacity: 25,965 (plans to expand)	Capacity: 16,000 (plans to expand)	Capacity: 11,073 (plans to expand)

Squads

Each team can register a maximum of 23 players (minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers).^[4]

Schedule

Zayed Sports City Stadium, one of three stadiums in Abu Dhabi, will stage both the opening match and the final. The match schedule itself will maximise the use of venues. At least five matches will be allocated to each venue, with every ground hosting at least one match in the knockout stage. The semi-finals will be played on different days in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. No city will host two matches on the same day – except in the final round of group stage matches when simultaneous kick-off is required. Unlike previous editions of the tournament, there will be no third/fourth place game.^[13]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams advance to the round of 16.

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 9.3):^[4]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
9. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, GST (UTC+4).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United Arab Emirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	A2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	A3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Knockout stage
4	A4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	B2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	B3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Knockout stage
4	B4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	C1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	C2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	C3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Knockout stage
4	C4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	D2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Knockout stage
4	D4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	E1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	E2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	E3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Knockout stage
4	E4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	F1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	F2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	F3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Knockout stage
4	F4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A	Third place Group A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	B	Third place Group B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	C	Third place Group C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	D	Third place Group D	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	E	Third place Group E	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	F	Third place Group F	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Articles 12.1 and 12.3).^[4]

In the round of 16, the match-ups to take place as follows:^[4]

• R16-1: Runner-up Group A v Runner-up Group C
• R16-2: Winner Group D v 3rd Place Group B/E/F
• R16-3: Winner Group B v 3rd Place Group A/C/D
• R16-4: Winner Group F v Runner-up Group E
• R16-5: Winner Group C v 3rd Place Group A/B/F
• R16-6: Winner Group E v Runner-up Group D
• R16-7: Winner Group A v 3rd Place Group C/D/E
• R16-8: Runner-up Group B v Runner-up Group F

The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depend on which four third-placed teams qualify for the round of 16.^[4]

Third-placed teams qualify from groups						1A vs	1B vs	1C vs	1D vs
A	B	C	D			3C	3D	3A	3B
A	B	C		E		3C	3A	3B	3E
A	B	C			F	3C	3A	3B	3F
A	B		D	E		3D	3A	3B	3E
A	B		D		F	3D	3A	3B	3F
A	B			E	F	3E	3A	3B	3F
A		C	D	E		3C	3D	3A	3E
A		C	D		F	3C	3D	3A	3F
A		C		E	F	3C	3A	3F	3E
A			D	E	F	3D	3A	3F	3E
	B	C	D	E		3C	3D	3B	3E
	B	C	D		F	3C	3D	3B	3F
	B	C		E	F	3E	3C	3B	3F
	B		D	E	F	3E	3D	3B	3F
		C	D	E	F	3C	3D	3F	3E

The quarter-final match-ups are:^[4]

• QF1: Winner R16-1 v Winner R16-2
• QF2: Winner R16-3 v Winner R16-4
• QF3: Winner R16-5 v Winner R16-6
• QF4: Winner R16-7 v Winner R16-8

The semi-final match-ups are:^[4]

• SF1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
• SF2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4

The final match-up is: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2. As of the 2019 tournament, there will be no third-place match.^[4]

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

January –

Runner-up Group A

January –

Runner-up Group C

Winner R16-1

January –

Winner R16-2

Winner Group D

January –

3rd Group B / E / F

Winner QF1

January –

Winner QF2

Winner Group B

January –

3rd Group A / C / D

Winner R16-3

January –

Winner R16-4

Winner Group F

1 February – ZSC, Abu Dhabi

Runner-up Group E

Winner SF1

January –

Winner SF2

Winner Group C

January –

3rd Group A / B / F

Winner R16-5

January –

Winner R16-6

Winner Group E

January –

Runner-up Group D

Winner QF3

January –

Winner QF4

Winner Group A

January –

3rd Group C / D / E

Winner R16-7

January –

Winner R16-8

Runner-up Group B

Runner-up Group F

Round of 16

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Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

Marketing

Logo

The official logo of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup was unveiled on 23 January 2017 in Abu Dhabi during the drawing ceremony for the third round of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification.^[14] The colors used in the logo were derived from the flag of the UAE. The seven hexagons formed by colored ribbons represents the seven emirates of the host country. The interlacing hexagon pattern of the logo was inspired from Islamic art, as well as the old Emirati tradition of using palm leaves, locally known as saf, in weaving. The outer circle along with the geometric design within it symbolizes the sport of football.^[15]

Concerns and controversies

Poor attendance records have been seen as a problem for the UAE in past tournaments, but Asian Cup officials are confident the tournament will attract significant numbers.^[16]

References

External links

• AFC Asian Cup, the-AFC.com