2023 marks the 18th edition of The Asian Cup, the continents premier tournament that dates back to 1956. South Korea won the first ever Asian Cup in 1956, which takes place every four years, but it began as a round-robin style competition before turning to the traditional group stage, knockout format in 1972.
Qatar are the hosts for the tournament which is taking place in 2024, despite being the 2023 Asian Cup. China were originally meant to host the tournament, before the AFC stripped them of the privilege because of their Zero-Covid policy following the pandemic. This meant that a second bidding process had to take place, and Qatar, after just hosting last year's World Cup, were granted the right to be the host country. The Cup typically takes place in the summer of odd years (every four years), but, similar to the World Cup, the cup had to be moved because of Qatar's extremely hot climate through the summer months. It would have been inhumane on the players and staff to make them play through severely high temperatures.
Japan have had the most success in The Asian Cup with four titles, despite losing in the final to this year's hosts and defending champions Qatar 3-1 in 2019. Japan most recently won the tournament in 2011 when they beat Australia 1-0 after extra time. Japan won back to back in 2000 and 2004 and are the favourites to win this time around. This is the third time that Qatar have hosted the Asian Cup, but this is the first time that they have had their new stadiums and infrastructure that were built for the purpose of the 2023 World Cup. No other country has hosted as many times as Qatar.
There have been two instances this far in The Asian Cup where the hosts have won the tournament, with Australia winning in Sydney in 2015 and Japan winning in Hiroshima in 1992. That 2015 final between Australia nd South Korea had the highest attendance of any final ever with 76,385. South Korea will be hoping to get back to the final this time around having not won the competition since the switch to knockouts in 1972. They won the first tow ever Asian Cups when it was round-robin, but have since lost in three finals, including one on penalties and one after extra time.
Saudi Arabia astonishingly appeared in six finals in seven tournaments between 1984 and 2007, winning three times at a 50% success rate. Two of those wins were in fact on penalties against South Korea and the UAE.
A mid-season tournament aside form domestic leagues adds difficulty for players who are playing week in week out, but an opportunity to represent your country is a great privilege that should not be taken for granted.
The 10th February next month will be the day that this year's winner is determined, but a number of upsets could happen before then which makes for enticing viewing in this edition of the Asian Cup.
Comments