Interesting records in Asian Cup history

The 18th continental tournament brings together 24 of Asia's strongest teams with record-breaking marks.

Top 10 stars worth watching at the 2023 Asian Cup

After two seasons hosting the Asian Cup in 1988 and 2011, just over a year since the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Gulf country is hosting another football festival. AFC looks back at the Asian Cup event through the numbers.

Four-time champion

Japan holds the record of winning the Asian Cup four times

Runner-up in 2019, Japan is the most successful team at the AFC Asian Cup, having won this tournament four times in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011. Blue Samurai has appeared in 5 of the past 8 finals , with the loss to Qatar in the UAE five years ago being the only time they suffered defeat.

Three consecutive championships

The Iranian team holds the record of 3 consecutive championships

While Japan boasts the most titles, no team can match Iran's three consecutive titles. They were crowned in 1968 and then successfully defended their titles at the 1972 and 1976 tournaments.

South Korea won the championship for the first time in 1956 and kept the trophy four years later, while Saudi Arabia also lifted the title consecutively in 1984 and 1988.

Home field advantage

There were 5 home teams champions in the first 7 AFC Asian Cup editions, but only 2 countries won the home championship in the next 10 editions. Japan won its first championship by defeating Saudi Arabia in Hiroshima in 1992 and 23 years later, Australia overcame South Korea after extra time in Sydney.

Scored the most goals

Legend of the Iranian team Ali Daei

Iranian legend Ali Daei leads in goals scored at the AFC Asian Cup, with the striker having 14 goals in three tournaments between 1996 and 2004. His four second-half goals against South Korea in 1996 is one of the special feats of the tournament.

Behind Daei is Korean striker Lee Dong-gook with 10 goals, while Japan's Naohiro Takahara, UAE's Ali Mabkhout and Qatar's Almoez Ali all have 9 goals.

Daei could be shaken from the number one spot if Almoez Ali has a high form like he did in 2019, when the Qatari striker scored 9 goals in 7 matches to lead his team to their first title. Like Daei, Almoez also scored four goals in one match – against North Korea in the group stage – but the biggest highlight was his aerial acrobatic opening goal against Japan in the final that will live forever in memory. .

Fastest goal

Ali Mabkhout holds the record for scoring the fastest goal, after just 14 seconds

Another player who scored 9 goals, Ali Mabkhout, holds the record for fastest scoring at the AFC Asian Cup when he opened the scoring against Bahrain after just 14 seconds in the 2015 group stage. UAE continued to finish in third place while This striker won the title of top scorer.

Mabkhout remains the UAE's top choice in the forward line, and he and Almoez will seek to keep close to Daei's record when the game takes place from January 12.

Participate in the most finals

Several players have appeared at four AFC Asian Cups over the years, including legends like Yasuhito Endo, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Younis Mahmoud and Zheng Zhi, but no one can compare to Ignatiy Nesterov. The Uzbek goalkeeper played in all five AFC Asian Cups from 2004 to 2019, appearing in the knockout rounds every time and had his best performance to date in the 2011 semi-finals.

King on penalties

Saudi Arabia has won the championship twice after a penalty shootout

There have only been two AFC Asian Cup finals decided on penalty kicks and on both occasions, Saudi Arabia were champions, overcoming South Korea in 1988 and the UAE in 1996 – both times. both after a 0-0 draw.

Saudi Arabia, along with Iran, is one of two countries that have lifted the AFC Asian Cup championship three times. However, the success in 1996 was the last and Saudi Arabia wanted to end the 27-year wait under new famous coach Roberto Mancini.

Record number of wins

Iran has won more matches than any other team in AFC Asian Cup history, winning 41 of 68 matches since debuting as hosts in the fourth tournament in 1968. However, after winning the title third in 1976, Iran have not returned to a single final, with six semi-final defeats, and most recently losing to Japan in 2019.

Asian Cup rookie

36 countries across Asia have participated in the AFC Asian Cup over the years, with the competition starting in 1956 and making it the second-oldest continental tournament after South America's Copa America. This season marks number 37 for rookie Tajikistan, the team made its debut in the final round at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha against China on January 13.