2023 AFC Asian Cup

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th 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 hosted by China from 16 June to 16 July 2023.[1] The tournament will involve 24 national teams after its expansion of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, including that of the host nation.[2] Qatar are the defending champions.

2023 AFC Asian Cup
2023年亚洲杯足球赛
Tournament details
Host countryChina
Dates16 June – 16 July[1]
Teams24
Venue(s)10 (in 10 host cities)

Host selection
Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup bids

The winning bid was announced on 4 June 2019, on the eve of the 69th FIFA Congress in Paris, France.[3]

Qualification
Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification

The first two rounds of qualification also act as the Asian qualification for the World Cup, in which Qatar have already qualified automatically. Qatar are participating in these rounds only for qualification to the 2023 Asian Cup.[4] China, which have automatically qualified for the 2023 Asian Cup, will also participate in the qualifiers in order to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Timor-Leste were barred from participating in the qualification tournament after being found to have fielded a total of twelve ineligible players in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches, among other competitions.[5] However, as FIFA did not bar them from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Timor-Leste were still allowed to enter the competition, but were ineligible to qualify for the Asian Cup.[6]

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 due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which will take place in November and December 2022.

Qualified teams
Team Method of
qualification		 Date of
qualification		 Finals
appearance		 Last
appearance		 Previous best
performance
 China PRHosts4 June 201913th2019Runners-up (1984, 2004)

Venues

Twelve host cities were submitted in the bid, including seven new football-specific stadia to be constructed, and renovation works planned for the existing stadia. The new Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai was proposed to host the final and a semi-final, with the a renovated Workers' Stadium in Beijing to host the other semi-final.[7] The new stadia are planned to be completed by the end of 2021, however, the bid included existing backup stadia in each of these cities.[8][9] On 28 December 2019, the Chinese Football Association announced ten cities to host the tournament.[10][11] In January 2020, the AFC announced 10 stadiums for this edition.[12]

Beijing Tianjin Shanghai Chongqing
New Beijing Workers' Stadium TEDA Football Stadium Pudong Football Stadium Chongqing Longxing Football Stadium
Capacity: 70,161
(under construction)		 Capacity: 36,390
(to be expanded)		 Capacity: 37,000 Capacity: 60,000
(under construction)
Chengdu
Xi'an
Chengdu Fenghuangshan Football Stadium Xi'an Fengdong XIFC Football Stadium
Capacity: 57,087
(under construction)		 Capacity: 59,000
(under construction)
Dalian Qingdao Xiamen Suzhou
Dalian Barracuda Bay Stadium Qingdao Youth Football Stadium Xiamen Egret Stadium Suzhou Kunshan Football Stadium
Capacity: 63,000
(under construction)		 Capacity: 52,800
(under construction)		 Capacity: 60,041
(under construction)		 Capacity: 45,000
(under construction)

References
  1. "AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ competition dates confirmed". Asian Football Confederation. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  2. "AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Competition Regulations". AFC.
  3. "China confirmed as 2023 Asian Cup hosts – AFC". Eurosport. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  4. Palmer, Dan (31 July 2017). "Hosts Qatar to compete in qualifying for 2022 World Cup". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  5. "Federacao Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". The-AFC.com. 20 January 2017.
  6. "Road to Qatar 2022: Asian teams discover Round 1 opponents". Asian Football Confederation. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  7. "Beijing, Shanghai among 10 cities to host 2023 Asian Cup". The Daily Star. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  8. "CHINA TO HOST 2023 ASIAN CUP, MAKES STADIUM COMMITMENT". The Stadium Business.com. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  9. "CHINA TO HOST 2023 ASIAN CUP". FTBL.com.au. 4 June 2019.
  10. "2023亚洲杯承办城市公布 北京等10座城市携手办赛". Chinese Football Association (in Chinese). 28 December 2019.
  11. "Host cities for AFC Asian Cup China 2023 confirmed". AFC. 28 December 2019.
  12. "亚足联官网公布2023中国亚洲杯球场". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 4 January 2020.
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