The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, here is full schedule and qualifications for 2023 AFC asian cup.
2023 AFC Asian Cup : Schedule, Qualification, Host
It will be held from 16 June to 16 July 2023. The tournament will involve 24 national teams after expansion, including that of the host nation. Qatar are the defending champions.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | TBA |
| Dates | 16 June – 16 July |
| Teams | 24 (from 1 confederation) |
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in China. However, on 14 May 2022, the AFC announced that China would not be able to host the tournament due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s Zero-COVID policy.
After receiving the EOIs from the four member associations, AFC has distributed the bidding regulations to the interested parties and has set August 31, 2022, as the deadline to submit the bid documents.
2023 AFC Asian Cup Schedule
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in China.
https://youtu.be/LyM8XUNPZdM
However, on 14 May 2022, the AFC announced that China would not be able to host the tournament due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s Zero-COVID policy.
Now It will be held from 16 June to 16 July 2023. The tournament will involve 24 national teams after expansion, including that of the host nation. Qatar are the defending champions.
Qualification
Qualifying began on 6 June 2019 for 23 spots joining the host nation China. The tournament will take place in June and July 2023, moved from the typical January/February scheduling of the AFC Asian Cup.
This is due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar taking place in November and December 2022.
North Korea withdrew from the qualifying round due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan became the first team to qualify, by defeating Myanmar 10–0.
Hong Kong qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time after 55 years, since 1968. The period represents the longest drought in AFC Asian Cup history.
Tajikistan made their debut in the Asian Cup, while fellow CAFA member nations, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, were the only two nations from the Central Asian zone which failed to qualify for the tournament.
All 16 teams of the 2007 edition qualified for this tournament, with co-hosts Indonesia and Malaysia qualifying for the first time since the inaugural edition. Kuwait and Yemen were the only two West Asian teams not to qualify for the final tournament.
India remained the only South Asian team to qualify for the tournament. It was the first time that India qualified for two consecutive AFC Asian Cups.
The Philippines, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Yemen are the only teams who had competed in the previous edition that did not qualify for this edition.
Host
China was announced as the winning bid on 4 June 2019, on the eve of the 69th FIFA Congress in Paris, France.
However, due to China’s withdrawal as the host, the second round of bidding will be decided later by the AFC.
The deadline was scheduled on 17 October 2022, in which four nations have already submitted their bids: Australia, Indonesia, Qatar and South Korea.