The AFC Asia Cup is the primary soccer competition by the senior men’s national teams of the Asia Football Confederation (AFC), determining the champion of Asia. The matches started on Friday, January 11, and ran through Thursday, January 25, ending with Kyrgyzstan vs Oman and Saudi Arabia vs Thailand. Round 16 will begin after a two-day gap on Sunday, Jan. 28, and run through Jan. 31. Quarter Finals will start on Feb. 1 – 2, and semifinals on Feb. 6-7. Like the World Cup, the tournament will conclude with a final on Saturday, Feb. 11.
Twenty-four teams have qualified for the Asia Cup. Tajikistan surprisingly earned a spot in the finals as the only debutantes. The games will begin with the top two teams in a group, and the four best third-ranked teams will advance to round 16. Each group’s bottom and the two lowest third-placed teams will be eliminated. Here are the respective groups listed by letter:
Group A: Qatar, China, Tajikistan, Lebanon
Group B: Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria, India
Group C: Iran, UAE, Palestine, Hong Kong
Group D: Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, Vietnam
Group E: South Korea, Malaysia, Jordan, Bahrain
Group F: Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Oman
The players and audience fill many matches on the field with emotions. One of these emotional moments was the Palestine national soccer team’s victory against Hong Kong 3-0 on Tuesday, January 23, in the Group C match. This victory was Palestine’s first at the Asia Cup, earning their spot in round 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams. In the West Bank of Ramallah, coffee shops were filled with people watching the match for the first time since the beginning of the war.
Mohamed Aweida from Jerusalem watched the match with some friends. He said the win was incredible. “ I’ve had no appetite to do anything [enjoyable] lately,” Aweirda said in an interview with NPR. But this is our national team, and I had to support it.”
Around much of the Middle East, soccer is a favorite pastime among Palestinians. It hasn’t been easy for the team. “Preparing for the Cup has been a challenge,” Forward Tamer Seyam told NPR. “It was hard to get together as a team, and training was suspended from the beginning of the war.”
During the game, the crowd cheered for Palestine, and at the final whistle, players broke into tears of joy. Defender Mohammed Saleh, born in Gaza, could be seen sobbing and kneeling on the ground. Many Palestinian players reported to have lost family members or have relatives trapped in Gaza. Players spoke about the difficulties and hardships of playing while not knowing what was happening at home.
In the match of Palestine vs. Qatar held at Al Bayt Stadium, Qatar managed to win with a score of 2-1, advancing into the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup 2023. Although it was Palestine’s first Asian Cup knockout match, Palestine put pressure on Qatar early. The Palestinian team took advantage of Qatar’s slow start by launching attacks against Qatar’s goal. In comparison, Qatar’s movement was restricted inside the Palestinian box. This was a plan by Palestine coach Makram Daboub that was executed to perfection by his players.
“My players gave it everything they could and didn’t give them much space in the beginning,” Daboub said in his post-match press conference. Palestine’s pressure finally paid off in the 37th minute when Oday Dabbagh scored a solo goal, celebrating with his teammates. However, this wouldn’t stop Qatar’s captain, Hassan Al Haydos, from scoring an equalizer in the sixth minute of added time. Akram Afif, Qatar’s crowd favorite, turned the match around when Afif scored his fourth tournament goal from the penalty spot. Qatar smoothly cruised through the rest of the match and secured the victory, advancing to the quarter-finals.
Written by Faith Kim of Seneca Valley High School
Image courtesy of DeviantArt