2019 AFC Asian Cup Group A

Group A of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup took place from 5 to 14 January 2019. ^[1] The group consisted of tournament hosts United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India and Bahrain. ^[2] The top two teams, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand, along with third-placed Bahrain (as one of the four best third-placed teams), advanced to the round of 16. ^[3]

Teams

Draw position	Team	Zone	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Rankings
								April 2018 [nb 1]	December 2018
A1	United Arab Emirates	WAFF	Hosts	9 March 2015	10th	2015 (third place)	Runners-up (1996)	81	79
A2	Thailand	AFF	Second round group F winners	24 March 2016	7th	2007 (group stage)	Third place (1972)	122	118
A3	India	SAFF	Third Round Group A winners	11 October 2017	4th	2011 (group stage)	Runners-up (1964)	97	97
A4	Bahrain	WAFF	Third Round Group E winners	14 November 2017	6th	2015 (group stage)	Fourth place (2004)	116	113

Notes

1. The rankings of April 2018 were used for seeding for the final draw.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United Arab Emirates (H)	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Thailand	3	1	1	1	3	5	−2	4 [lower-alpha 1]
3	Bahrain	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4 [lower-alpha 1]
4	India	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host
Notes:

1. Head-to-head points: Thailand 3, Bahrain 0.

In the round of 16:

• The winners of Group A, the United Arab Emirates, advanced to play the third-placed team of Group C, Kyrgyzstan.
• The runners-up of Group A, Thailand, advanced to play the runners-up of Group C, China PR.
• The third-placed team of Group A, Bahrain, advanced to play the winners of Group C, South Korea (as one of the four best third-placed teams).

Matches

All times listed are GST (UTC+4).

United Arab Emirates vs Bahrain

With six minutes played, Ali Mabkhout found Ismail Al Hammadi, who fired narrowly wide of Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Shubbar Alawi’s far post. Mabkhout shot over the bar from 15 yards after an Ali Salmeen cross on 23 minutes. In the final moments of the first half, Kamil Al Aswad's free kick from 25 yards narrowly whizzed over the bar. ^[4] Khalid Eisa then made a double save to deny Bahrain in the 52nd minute by first palming away Ali Madan’s drive and blocking Mohamed Al Romaihi’s subsequent follow-up. Eight minutes after the hour mark, Bahrain failed to clear the lines at a corner and the ball was eventually deflected into the path of Mabkhout, who shot just wide of the post. ^[5] On 78 minutes, defender Sayed Redha Isa crossed to Al Romaihi, who saw his initial header cleared off the line before ramming home the rebound. Bahraini substitute Mohamed Marhoon, who had only just come on, handled the ball in the area on 88 minutes and Ahmed Khalil, having come off the bench for his 100th cap, scored the resulting penalty to ensure his side a point. ^[6]

5 January 2019 (2019-01-05)

20:00

United Arab Emirates	1–1	Bahrain
Khalil 88' (pen.)	Report	Al Romaihi 78'

Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 33,878

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

United Arab Emirates

Bahrain

GK 17 Khalid Eisa RB 9 Bandar Al-Ahbabi CB 4 Khalifa Mubarak CB 6 Fares Juma (c) LB 18 Al Hassan Saleh CM 13 Khamis Esmaeel  36'  81' CM 2 Ali Salmeen CM 5 Amer Abdulrahman  35'  54' RF 21 Khalfan Mubarak  54' CF 7 Ali Mabkhout LF 15 Ismail Al Hammadi Substitutions: FW 20 Saif Rashid  54' MF 16 Mohamed Abdulrahman  54' FW 11 Ahmed Khalil  81' Manager: Alberto Zaccheroni

GK 1 Sayed Shubbar Alawi RB 5 Hamad Al-Shamsan CB 16 Sayed Redha Isa CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam LB 12 Ahmed Juma  87' RM 7 Abdulwahab Al-Safi (c) CM 4 Sayed Dhiya Saeed CM 11 Ali Madan  90+3' LM 19 Kamil Al Aswad CF 23 Jamal Rashid  81' CF 13 Mohamed Al Romaihi Substitutions: FW 10 Abdulla Yusuf Helal  81' MF 8 Mohamed Marhoon  87' FW 20 Sami Al-Husaini  90+3' Manager: Miroslav Soukup

Man of the Match: Mohamed Al Romaihi (Bahrain) Assistant referees: [7] Ahmad Al-Roalle (Jordan) Mohammad Al-Kalaf (Jordan) Fourth official: Mohammed Al-Abakry (Saudi Arabia) Additional assistant referees: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia) Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Thailand vs India

Indian players celebrating with fans after the match

Thailand threatened first with captain Teerasil Dangda finding Thitipan Puangchan, firing an 11th minute drive which sailed narrowly wide of Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s right-hand post. Later on, Ashique Kuruniyan’s shot was saved by Chatchai Budprom, only for defender Theerathon Bunmathan to concede a penalty when he handled the subsequent rebound. Sunil Chhetri converted the resulting penalty to give India the lead in the 27th minute. Thailand were, however, to draw level just six minutes later, with Teerasil heading home Theerathon’s delivered set-piece. Moments after the restart, Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh combined to set up Chhetri who fired home past Chatchai from 15 yards to restore his side’s advantage. ^[8] In the 68th minute Udanta charged towards the goal before laying the ball back to Anirudh Thapa, who dinked the ball past both Chatchai and a recovering defender into the back of the net. ^[9] With time running out, Thailand rallied briefly when Teerasil saw a goal-bound effort diverted to safety via the outstretched leg of the defender Anas Edathodika. With 10 minutes remaining, substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua scored a curling strike from the edge of the area. ^[8]

This became India's biggest ever win in their Asian Cup history, while it was also India's first ever win after 55 years. ^[10] This hammered defeat to India prompted the FAT to sack Milovan Rajevac and appointed Sirisak Yodyardthai as interim coach. ^[11] The two goals helped Sunil Chhetri overtake Lionel Messi to become the second-highest active goalscorer in men's international football, behind Cristiano Ronaldo. ^[12]

6 January 2019 (2019-01-06)

17:30

Thailand	1–4	India
Teerasil 33'	Report	Chhetri 27' (pen.), 46' Thapa 68' Lalpekhlua 80'

Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 3,250

Referee: Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong)

Thailand

India

GK 1 Chatchai Budprom RB 19 Tristan Do CB 4 Chalermpong Kerdkaew CB 6 Pansa Hemviboon  79' LB 3 Theerathon Bunmathan CM 8 Thitipan Puangchan CM 14 Sanrawat Dechmitr  39'  58' RW 9 Adisak Kraisorn  79' AM 18 Chanathip Songkrasin  73' LW 22 Supachai Jaided CF 10 Teerasil Dangda (c) Substitutions: DF 11 Korrakot Wiriyaudomsiri  58' FW 20 Siroch Chatthong  73' MF 7 Sumanya Purisai  79' Manager: Milovan Rajevac

GK 1 Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (c) RB 20 Pritam Kotal CB 5 Sandesh Jhingan CB 22 Anas Edathodika LB 3 Subhasish Bose RM 15 Udanta Singh CM 7 Anirudh Thapa  78' CM 14 Pronay Halder  87' LM 19 Halicharan Narzary CF 13 Ashique Kuruniyan  78' CF 11 Sunil Chhetri Substitutions: FW 12 Jeje Lalpekhlua  78' MF 17 Rowllin Borges  78' MF 6 Germanpreet Singh  87' Manager: Stephen Constantine

Man of the Match: Sunil Chhetri (India) Assistant referees: [7] Huo Weiming (China PR) Cao Yi (China PR) Fourth official: Ronnie Koh Min Kiat (Singapore) Additional assistant referees: Ma Ning (China PR) Fu Ming (China PR)

Bahrain vs Thailand

Thailand came close to opening the scoring in the 20th minute when captain Teerasil Dangda's effort was blocked by Bahraini goalkeeper Sayed Shubbar Alawi. Eight minutes later, Bahrain forced Thai goalkeeper Siwarak Tedsungnoen to pull off a double save against Mohamed Marhoon and Sayed Dhiya Saeed. Four minutes from the end of the half, Mohamed Al Romaihi failed to keep his header down from Marhoon's cross. In the 58th minute, Tristan Do sent a cross into the Bahrain penalty box. The ball was deflected by Ahmed Juma but a surging Chanathip Songkrasin sent a left-footed shot past Alawi to give Thailand the advantage. Thailand came close to doubling their lead when Chanathip's pass found Adisak Kraisorn but his effort was denied by the upright in the 71st minute. ^[13]

10 January 2019 (2019-01-10)

15:00

Bahrain	0–1	Thailand
	Report	Chanathip 58'

Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai

Attendance: 2,720

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Bahrain

Thailand

GK 1 Sayed Shubbar Alawi RB 16 Sayed Redha Isa CB 5 Hamad Al-Shamsan CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam LB 12 Ahmed Juma  64' CM 7 Abdulwahab Al-Safi (c) CM 19 Kamil Al Aswad RW 11 Ali Madan  79' AM 8 Mohamed Marhoon  65' LW 4 Sayed Dhiya Saeed CF 13 Mohamed Al Romaihi Substitutions: FW 20 Sami Al-Husaini  64' FW 10 Abdulla Yusuf Helal  65' FW 9 Mahdi Al-Humaidan  79' Manager: Miroslav Soukup

GK 23 Siwarak Tedsungnoen RB 5 Adisorn Promrak  45+1'  90+2' CB 6 Pansa Hemviboon  13' CB 15 Suphan Thongsong  20' LB 17 Tanaboon Kesarat  68' CM 19 Tristan Do CM 8 Thitipan Puangchan CM 3 Theerathon Bunmathan AM 18 Chanathip Songkrasin CF 9 Adisak Kraisorn  43'  80' CF 10 Teerasil Dangda (c) Substitutions: MF 14 Sanrawat Dechmitr  68' FW 22 Supachai Jaided  80' DF 16 Mika Chunuonsee  90+2' Manager: Sirisak Yodyardthai

Man of the Match: Chanathip Songkrasin (Thailand) Assistant referees: [14] Matthew Cream (Australia) Anton Shchetinin (Australia) Fourth official: Sergei Grishchenko (Kyrgyzstan) Additional assistant referees: Peter Green (Australia) Ryuji Sato (Japan)

India vs United Arab Emirates

India had the game's first chance when Ashique Kuruniyan dashed into the area before unleashing a drive which forced goalkeeper Khalid Eisa into a fine save on 11 minutes. Eisa was called into action once again in the 23rd minute, this time reacting to repel a Sunil Chhetri header. ^[15] Five minutes before half-time, Anas Edathodika made a mess of it and allowed Ali Mabkhout to set up Khalfan Mubarak to fire home past Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. ^[16] In the final moments of the first period, Chhetri came within inches of drawing his side level, but his effort fizzed just wide of Eisa's far post. After the break, substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua fired a shot narrowly off target and then Udanta Singh rattled the Emirati bar with a drive from a narrow angle. Ismail Al Hammadi’s 74th-minute shot cannoned off the post and then Sandhu before rebounding to safety. The UAE doubled their advantage in the final moments when Mabkhout converted Ali Salmeen’s pass to secure the victory despite Mohamed Ahmed crashing the ball against his own woodwork deep into stoppage time. ^[15]

10 January 2019 (2019-01-10)

20:00

India	0–2	United Arab Emirates
	Report	Khalf. Mubarak 41' Mabkhout 88'

Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 43,206

Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)

India

United Arab Emirates

GK 1 Gurpreet Singh Sandhu RB 20 Pritam Kotal CB 5 Sandesh Jhingan CB 22 Anas Edathodika LB 3 Subhasish Bose  73' RM 15 Udanta Singh  79' CM 7 Anirudh Thapa  70' CM 14 Pronay Halder LM 19 Halicharan Narzary  46' CF 13 Ashique Kuruniyan  51' CF 11 Sunil Chhetri (c) Substitutions: FW 12 Jeje Lalpekhlua  46' MF 17 Rowllin Borges  70' MF 18 Jackichand Singh  79' Manager: Stephen Constantine

GK 17 Khalid Eisa RB 9 Bandar Al-Ahbabi CB 4 Khalifa Mubarak CB 19 Ismail Ahmed LB 18 Al Hassan Saleh CM 13 Khamis Esmaeel  63' CM 2 Ali Salmeen CM 5 Amer Abdulrahman  75' RF 21 Khalfan Mubarak  85' CF 7 Ali Mabkhout LF 15 Ismail Al Hammadi (c) Substitutions: MF 8 Majed Hassan  63' DF 23 Mohamed Ahmed  75' FW 10 Ismail Matar  85' Manager: Alberto Zaccheroni

Man of the Match: Ali Mabkhout (United Arab Emirates) Assistant referees: [14] Miguel Hernández (Mexico) Alberto Morín (Mexico) Fourth official: Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman) Additional assistant referees: Jumpei Iida (Japan) Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

United Arab Emirates vs Thailand

The United Arab Emirates and Thailand both booked their places in the knockout stage as a 1–1 draw at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium was enough to ensure both nations progressed. Ali Mabkhout put Alberto Zaccheroni's side ahead after seven minutes but Thitipan Puangchan struck four minutes from time to earn the Thais a point that sees them take second place in Group A, following India's late loss to Bahrain, thanks to a better head-to-head record.

The hosts made the perfect start when, with many in the crowd of almost 18,000 still finding their seats, they found the back of Siwarak Tedsungnoen's goal. Ismail Al Hammadi burst into the area and attempted to clip the ball over the Thai keeper, only for it to come back off the crossbar. However, Mabkhout rose to head home the rebound from inside the six-yard box. Khalfan Mubarak sought to double the lead 11 minutes later when he twisted his way past the Thai defence, only to send a weak shot trundling through to Siwarak.

While the UAE have qualified for the knockout phase for the second tournament in a row, Thailand will be featuring in the next round for the first time since they reached the semi-finals in 1972. ^[17]

14 January 2019 (2019-01-14)

20:00

United Arab Emirates	1–1	Thailand
Mabkhout 7'	Report	Thitipan 41'

Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 17,809

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

United Arab Emirates

Thailand

GK 17 Khalid Eisa CB 19 Ismail Ahmed CB 4 Khalifa Mubarak CB 23 Mohamed Ahmed RWB 9 Bandar Al-Ahbabi  46' LWB 18 Al Hassan Saleh  34' CM 8 Majed Hassan CM 2 Ali Salmeen RW 21 Khalfan Mubarak  84' LW 15 Ismail Al Hammadi (c)  74' CF 7 Ali Mabkhout Substitutions: MF 16 Mohamed Abdulrahman  46' FW 11 Ahmed Khalil  74' FW 10 Ismail Matar  84' Manager: Alberto Zaccheroni

GK 23 Siwarak Tedsungnoen RB 5 Adisorn Promrak  7' CB 16 Mika Chunuonsee  31' CB 15 Suphan Thongsong  79' LB 17 Tanaboon Kesarat  90' CM 19 Tristan Do CM 8 Thitipan Puangchan CM 3 Theerathon Bunmathan AM 18 Chanathip Songkrasin CF 9 Adisak Kraisorn  64' CF 10 Teerasil Dangda (c) Substitutions: DF 4 Chalermpong Kerdkaew  31' FW 22 Supachai Jaided  64' MF 21 Pokklaw Anan  90' Manager: Sirisak Yodyardthai

Man of the Match: Ali Mabkhout (United Arab Emirates) Assistant referees: [18] Hiroshi Yamauchi (Japan) Jun Mihara (Japan) Fourth official: Mohd Yusri Muhamad (Malaysia) Additional assistant referees: Jumpei Iida (Japan) Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

India vs Bahrain

Jamal Rashid's penalty in stoppage time sealed the 1–0 win for Bahrain over India, taking them into the knockout stage for the first time since 2004. With the UAE and Thailand playing to a 1–1 draw, Bahrain finished third in Group A with four points, confirming them as one of the best four third-placed teams that will advance to the round of 16.

India suffered early problems at the back when Anas Edathodika was forced off with an injury in the fourth minute and replaced with Salam Ranjan Singh. Bahrain then applied pressure on the Blue Tigers' defence as goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was called into action three minutes later to save Sayed Dhiya Saeed's left footed shot from outside the box. India were able to calm their nerves and responded in the 20th minute. Sunil Chhetri came close to scoring, but the striker failed to steer Gurpreet's long pass home. In the last minutes, Rashid and Saeed both failed to find the mark with long-range efforts, before the former scored a penalty that won Bahrain the match. ^[19]

14 January 2019 (2019-01-14)

20:00

India	0–1	Bahrain
	Report	Rashid 90+1' (pen.)

Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah

Attendance: 11,417

Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

India

Bahrain

GK 1 Gurpreet Singh Sandhu RB 20 Pritam Kotal CB 5 Sandesh Jhingan CB 22 Anas Edathodika  4' LB 3 Subhasish Bose RM 15 Udanta Singh CM 17 Rowllin Borges CM 14 Pronay Halder (c) LM 19 Halicharan Narzary  79' CF 13 Ashique Kuruniyan  46' CF 11 Sunil Chhetri Substitutions: DF 2 Salam Ranjan Singh  4' FW 12 Jeje Lalpekhlua  46' MF 7 Anirudh Thapa  79' Manager: Stephen Constantine

GK 1 Sayed Shubbar Alawi RB 16 Sayed Redha Isa CB 5 Hamad Al-Shamsan  64' CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam LB 12 Ahmed Juma  78' CM 7 Abdulwahab Al-Safi (c) CM 19 Kamil Al Aswad RW 11 Ali Madan  55' AM 23 Jamal Rashid LW 4 Sayed Dhiya Saeed CF 13 Mohamed Al Romaihi  61' Substitutions: MF 8 Mohamed Marhoon  55' FW 10 Abdulla Yusuf Helal  61' FW 20 Sami Al-Husaini  78' Other disciplinary actions: DF 17 Ahmed Bughammar  90+5' Manager: Miroslav Soukup

Man of the Match: Jamal Rashid (Bahrain) Assistant referees: [18] Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan) Sergei Grishchenko (Kyrgyzstan) Fourth official: Ronnie Koh Min Kiat (Singapore) Additional assistant referees: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Discipline

Fair play points were used as tiebreakers if the head-to-head and overall records of teams were tied (and if a penalty shoot-out was not applicable as a tiebreaker). These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows: ^{[3] [20]}

• 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

Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.

Team	Match 1				Match 2				Match 3				Points
Bahrain									2				−2
India					2								−2
United Arab Emirates	2								1				−3
Thailand	2				4				2				−8

References

1. "Match Schedule – AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
2. "Final Draw sets the stage for thrilling contests in UAE 2019". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
3. "AFC Asian Cup 2019 Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
4. "UAE 1–1 Bahrain". AFC. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
5. "Khalil spares UAE's blushes against Bahrain". Fox Sports Asia . 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
6. Ridge, Patric (5 January 2019). "Late Khalil penalty salvages draw". Goal . Retrieved 5 January 2019.
7. "MATCH OFFICIALS FOR JANUARY 5 & 6". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
8. "Thailand 1–4 India". AFC. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
9. Tan, Gabriel (6 January 2019). "Sunil Chhetri at the double as India humble Thailand". Fox Sports Asia. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
10. "Asian Cup 2019: India register their biggest and first win since 1964". goal.com. Goal. com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
11. "Thailand fire coach Milovan Rajevac after losing Asian Cup opener to India". espn.in. ESPN. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
12. "'It doesn't matter who scores': Chhetri downplays going past Messi's tally during Asian Cup". scroll.in. Scroll India. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
13. "Bahrain 0–1 Thailand". AFC. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
14. "MATCH OFFICIALS FOR JANUARY 10". AFC. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
15. "India 0–2 UAE". AFC. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
16. Muralidharan, Ashwin (11 January 2019). "Unlucky India push UAE to their limits". Goal. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
17. "UAE 1–1 Thailand". AFC. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
18. "MATCH OFFICIALS FOR JANUARY 14". the-afc.com. AFC. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
19. "India 0–1 Bahrain". AFC. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
20. "Competition Operations Manual 2019". AFC.

External links

• Official website