The AFC Asian Cup is an international association football tournament run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the second oldest continental football championship in the world after Copa América. The 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup will commence on 5th January 2019 and extend till 1st February 2019. The United Arab Emirates was announced as the host for the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia on 9th March 2015.
Having won the previous competition in 2015, Australia is the defending champions going into the tournament. The winner of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup will earn the right to participate in the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Follow the live commentary of the India v Bahrain match.
Format
The upcoming competition sees 24 teams competing in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, which is an expansion of the usual 16-team set-up. Only the hosts will receive an automatic qualification spot, while the other 23 teams were 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 served as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process for the AFC. At the finals, the 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams each. The teams in each group play a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams and the four best third teams will advance to the knockout stage, beginning with the round of 16.
2019 Asian Cup teams
All 24 teams have now qualified for the tournament with a few nations making their debut at the competition while several teams are appearing for the first time since 2004. Lebanon and Vietnam have both qualified for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2000 and 2007 respectfully.
Final draw
Teams were drawn consecutively into Group A to F.
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
| United Arab Emirates | Australia | South Korea |
| Thailand | Syria | China |
| India | Palestine | Kyrgyzstan |
| Bahrain | Jordan | Philippines |
| Group D | Group E | Group F |
| Iran | Saudi Arabia | Japan |
| Iraq | Qatar | Uzbekistan |
| Vietnam | Lebanon | Oman |
| Yemen | North Korea | Turkmenistan |
Venues
| | Abu Dhabi | |
| Zayed Sports City Stadium | Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium | Al Nahyan Stadium |
| Capacity: 43,630 | Capacity: 42,056 | Capacity: 12,000 |
| Dubai | |
| Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium | Al-Maktoum Stadium |
| Capacity: 12,000 | Capacity: 15,000 |
| Al Ain | |
| Hazza bin Zayed Stadium | Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium |
| Capacity: 25,965 | Capacity: 16,000 |
| Sharjah |
| Sharjah Stadium |
| Capacity: 11,073 |
