AFC Asian Cup 2023: Qatar's fixtures, schedule, squad, telecast and more

Qatar will look to defend their AFC Asian Cup title at home.

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qatar, will be the 18th edition of Asia’s biggest and most prestigious football tournament. The tournament involves 24 teams, who have been divided into six groups of four each. 

Qatar are defending champions after having claimed the title in 2019 in UAE. However, in the last five years things have changed for the Qataris and currently they are not at the level that they used to be. 

After having a dismal campaign in the FIFA World Cup at home in 2022, Qatar will aim to resurge themselves by winning the Asian flagship tournament at home and reclaim the lost glory. 

Teams 

Group A 

Qatar

China

Tajikistan

Lebanon

Format

The 24 participating nations have all been divided into six groups of four teams each, where they will compete in a single round robin format. 

Upon the completion of all group games, the top two teams from the group will make it to the knockouts, whereas the best four among the third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 16. 

Thereon, the teams will play in a series of single-legged knockout games, that will ultimately lead to the showdown for the continent’s most prestigious football title.

Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they are playing each other in the last round of the group;
8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
9. Drawing of lots.

Venue

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be played across five different cities, which include a total of nine stadiums, among which there is the Lusail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.

Among the other stadiums, are Al Bayt Stadium, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Education City Stadium, Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium and Al Janoub Stadium.

Telecast 

The AFC Asian Cup matches will be telecast live on Sports18 Network. Live streaming of the AFC Asian Cup will be available on the JioCinema app and website. For worldwide broadcast, click here.

Qatar’s fixtures at the 2023 Asian Cup

Date	Fixture	Time (IST)
January 12	Qatar 3-0 Lebanon – Report	9:30 PM
January 17	Tajikistan vs Qatar	8:00 PM
January 22	Qatar vs China	8:30 PM

AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qatar Men’s football team – full squad

Goalkeepers: Saad Al Sheeb, Meshal Barsham, Salah Zakaria

Defenders: Al Mahdi Ali, Lucas Mendes, Boualem Khokhi, Pedro Miguel, Tarek Salman, Sultan Al Beraik, Homam Al Amin, Bassam Al-Rawi

Midfielders: Ahmed Fathi, Jassim Gaber, Abdelaziz Hatem, Hassan Al Haydos, Ali Asad, Mohammed Waad, Mustafa Meshal, Khaled Mohammed

Forwards: Ahmed Al Janhi, Ahmed Alaa, Akram Afif, Yousif Abdurazaq, Al Moez Ali, Ismail Mohammed, Khalid Muneer

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