2019 AFC Asian Cup Group D

Group D of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup took place from 7 to 16 January 2019. ^[1] The group consisted of Iran, Iraq, Vietnam and Yemen. ^[2] The top two teams, Iran and Iraq, along with third-placed Vietnam (as one of the four best third-placed teams), advanced to the round of 16. ^[3]

The group contained two former champions, Iran (3 titles) and Iraq (1 title). Yemen made their debut at the tournament.

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
D1	Iran	CAFA	Second round group D winners	29 March 2016	14th	2015 (quarter-finals)	Winners (1968, 1972, 1976)	36	29
D2	Iraq	WAFF	Second round 1st best runners-up	29 March 2016	10th	2015 (fourth place)	Winners (2007)	88	88
D3	Vietnam [nb 2]	AFF	Third Round Group C runners-up	14 November 2017	4th	2007 (quarter-finals)	Fourth place (1956, 1960)	103	100
D4	Yemen [nb 3]	WAFF	Third Round Group F runners-up	27 March 2018	1st	—	Debut	125	135

Notes

1. The rankings of April 2018 were used for seeding for the final draw.
2. From 1956 to 1960, Vietnam competed as South Vietnam until 1975.
3. South Yemen qualified in 1976, but this is not counted due to FIFA and AFC categorising the participation as a distinct record from Yemen, who succeeded North Yemen after 1990.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	3	2	1	0	7	0	+7	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Iraq	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
3	Vietnam	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
4	Yemen	3	0	0	3	0	10	−10	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

In the round of 16:

• The winners of Group D, Iran, advanced to play the third-placed team of Group F, Oman.
• The runners-up of Group D, Iraq, advanced to play the winners of Group E, Qatar.
• The third-placed team of Group D, Vietnam, advanced to play the winners of Group B, Jordan (as one of the four best third-placed teams).

Matches

All times listed are GST (UTC+4).

Iran vs Yemen

Iranian players before the match.

Yemen had the first chance of the match in the seventh minute when Ahmed Al-Sarori ran into the penalty area and flashed a shot narrowly over the bar. Mehdi Taremi opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he converted the rebound after Yemeni goalkeeper Saoud Al-Sowadi pushed Sardar Azmoun's long-range effort back into his path. At 23 minutes, Ashkan Dejagah's free kick found the back of the net via a combination of both the woodwork and Al-Sowadi, before Taremi bagged his second of the night by heading home Ramin Rezaeian's cross moments later. In the second half, after Al-Sowadi had repelled two Azmoun headers, the forward finished from close-range on 53 minutes to further extend Iran's lead. Azmoun was later denied by Mudir Al-Radaei's challenge when through on goal and his shot struck the bar with 14 minutes remaining. Substitute Saman Ghoddos added a fifth from the edge of the area shortly after, while Mehdi Torabi's drive struck the post in added time. ^[4]

7 January 2019 (2019-01-07)

20:00

Iran	5–0	Yemen
Taremi 12', 25' Dejagah 23' Azmoun 53' Ghoddos 78'	Report

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 5,301

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Iran

Yemen

GK 1 Alireza Beiranvand RB 23 Ramin Rezaeian  39' CB 19 Majid Hosseini  46' CB 8 Morteza Pouraliganji LB 3 Ehsan Hajsafi DM 9 Omid Ebrahimi RM 21 Ashkan Dejagah (c) LM 11 Vahid Amiri  60' AM 16 Mehdi Torabi CF 17 Mehdi Taremi  71' CF 20 Sardar Azmoun Substitutions: DF 15 Pejman Montazeri  46' MF 14 Saman Ghoddos  60' FW 10 Karim Ansarifard  71' Manager: Carlos Queiroz

GK 23 Saoud Al-Sowadi RB 21 Mohammed Ba Rowis CB 3 Mohammed Fuad Omar  57' CB 4 Mudir Al-Radaei  83' LB 13 Ala Addin Mahdi  90' DM 12 Ahmed Al-Haifi  80' RM 11 Abdulwasea Al-Matari  77'  87' CM 8 Wahid Al Khyat  64' CM 9 Ala Al-Sasi (c) LM 7 Ahmed Al-Sarori CF 20 Emad Mansoor Substitutions: DF 15 Ammar Hamsan  57' MF 6 Ahmed Abdulrab  64' FW 10 Ahmed Dhabaan  87' Manager: Ján Kocian

Man of the Match: Ashkan Dejagah (Iran) Assistant referees: Hiroshi Yamauchi (Japan) Jun Mihara (Japan) Fourth official: Palitha Hemathunga (Sri Lanka) Additional assistant referees: Jumpei Iida (Japan) Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

Iraq vs Vietnam

Iraq and Vietnam have only met once at the Asian Cup back in 2007, when Iraq defeated Vietnam 2–0 on the road to their first Asian title.

After a slow start to the proceedings, Iraq came closest to breaking the deadlock through Hussein Ali's shot from distance which Đặng Văn Lâm tipped around his left-hand post on 14 minutes. Vietnam took the lead 10 minutes later, Nguyễn Quang Hải’s attempted pass saw defender Ali Faez turn the ball past the onrushing Jalal Hassan and into his own net. Iraq scored the equaliser shortly after the half-hour mark when Đỗ Duy Mạnh's defensive lapse saw Mohanad Ali surge into the area and fire home past a diving Văn Lâm. With three minutes of the first period remaining, Vietnam regained the lead as Nguyễn Công Phượng bundled home the rebound after Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng's shot had been parried into his path by Hassan. After the break, Safaa Hadi was denied by Văn Lâm and on the other end, Hassan dived to smother a Công Phượng effort. In the 60th minute, substitute Humam Tariq smashed the ball into the roof of the net after Vietnam had failed to clear Mohanad Ali's close-range effort. Ali Adnan curled home a 90th minute free kick from 20 yards to seal the victory for Iraq. ^[5]

8 January 2019 (2019-01-08)

17:30

Iraq	3–2	Vietnam
M. Ali 35' Tariq 60' Adnan 90'	Report	Faez 24' (o.g.) Nguyễn Công Phượng 42'

Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 4,779

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

Iraq

Vietnam

GK 1 Jalal Hassan (c) RB 2 Ahmad Ibrahim CB 3 Frans Dhia Putros  37' CB 7 Safaa Hadi LB 5 Ali Faez CM 23 Waleed Salim  78' CM 8 Osama Rashid  18'  58' CM 6 Ali Adnan AM 16 Hussein Ali SS 9 Ahmed Yasin CF 10 Mohanad Ali Substitutions: MF 13 Bashar Resan  37' FW 11 Humam Tariq  58' DF 17 Alaa Ali Mhawi  78' Manager: Srečko Katanec

GK 23 Đặng Văn Lâm CB 3 Quế Ngọc Hải (c) CB 2 Đỗ Duy Mạnh  48' CB 4 Bùi Tiến Dũng RM 8 Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng  1' CM 6 Lương Xuân Trường  65' CM 16 Đỗ Hùng Dũng LM 12 Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy RF 19 Nguyễn Quang Hải CF 10 Nguyễn Công Phượng  63' LF 20 Phan Văn Đức  82' Substitutions: FW 18 Hà Đức Chinh  63' MF 7 Nguyễn Huy Hùng  65' DF 5 Đoàn Văn Hậu  82' Manager: Park Hang-seo

Man of the Match: Ali Adnan (Iraq) Assistant referees: Taleb Al-Marri (Qatar) Saud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar) Fourth official: Abu Bakar Al-Amri (Oman) Additional assistant referees: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar) Khamis Al-Kuwari (Qatar)

Vietnam vs Iran

Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Torabi

Iran had the first chance of the game, Vahid Amiri failed to apply a finishing touch at the far post following Ashkan Dejagah’s 11th minute corner. Vietnamese goalkeeper Đặng Văn Lâm then denied Saman Ghoddos before producing another stop to repel a Sardar Azmoun drive shortly before the half-hour mark. The breakthrough came on at 38 minutes when Azmoun headed home a Ghoddos cross, sending his side into the half-time break holding a slender lead. In the 52nd minute, substitute Nguyễn Văn Toàn's pass found Nguyễn Công Phượng, whose shot from 12 yards was parried to safety by the advancing Alireza Beiranvand. Moments later, Azmoun forced Văn Lâm into another save, only to see Mehdi Taremi lash the subsequent rebound wide off the target. At 68 minutes, Azmoun gathered a Mehdi Torabi pass and fired past Văn Lâm to extend his side’s advantage and register his third goal of the tournament. Nguyễn Quang Hải then curled a late effort narrowly off target and Iran held on to register a record ninth successive AFC Asian Cup group stage victory. ^[6]

12 January 2019 (2019-01-12)

15:00

Vietnam	0–2	Iran
	Report	Azmoun 38', 69'

Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 10,841

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

Vietnam

Iran

GK 23 Đặng Văn Lâm CB 3 Quế Ngọc Hải (c) CB 2 Đỗ Duy Mạnh  90+1' CB 4 Bùi Tiến Dũng RM 8 Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng  84' CM 15 Phạm Đức Huy  59' CM 16 Đỗ Hùng Dũng LM 5 Đoàn Văn Hậu  46' RF 19 Nguyễn Quang Hải CF 10 Nguyễn Công Phượng LF 20 Phan Văn Đức  46' Substitutions: FW 9 Nguyễn Văn Toàn  46' MF 11 Ngân Văn Đại  59' FW 22 Nguyễn Tiến Linh  84' Manager: Park Hang-seo

GK 1 Alireza Beiranvand RB 2 Voria Ghafouri CB 8 Morteza Pouraliganji CB 13 Hossein Kanaanizadegan LB 3 Ehsan Hajsafi  75' DM 9 Omid Ebrahimi RM 21 Ashkan Dejagah (c) LM 11 Vahid Amiri  64' AM 14 Saman Ghoddos CF 17 Mehdi Taremi  19'  64' CF 20 Sardar Azmoun  79' Substitutions: MF 6 Ahmad Nourollahi  64' MF 16 Mehdi Torabi  64' FW 10 Karim Ansarifard  79' Manager: Carlos Queiroz

Man of the Match: Sardar Azmoun (Iran) Assistant referees: [7] Ronnie Koh Min Kiat (Singapore) Sergei Grishchenko (Kyrgyzstan) Fourth official: Palitha Hemathunga (Sri Lanka) Additional assistant referees: César Ramos (Mexico) Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

Yemen vs Iraq

Iraq took the lead in the 11th minute when Mohanad Ali beat the Yemen defence before unleashing a shot from outside the box into the bottom right corner. Yemen had their first look at goal from a set-piece five minutes later, but Abdulwasea Al-Matari sent his header just above the bar. Yemen goalkeeper Saoud Al-Sowadi soon conceded the second goal in the 19th minute when Bashar Resan's strike from the top of the box bounced off the right post before settling in the net. In the second half, both teams came close to finding the net with Ahmed Abdulrab's right-footed shot from outside the box just being kept out by Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan in the 59th minute. Iraq responded five minutes later, with Mohanad coming close to getting his second but his lob was denied by the post and Ahmed Yasin missed the chance to tuck the rebound home. Iraq ended proceedings on a high note as Alaa Abbas scored with a left-footed shot from the centre of the box and into the net. ^[8]

12 January 2019 (2019-01-12)

17:30

Yemen	0–3	Iraq
	Report	M. Ali 11' Resan 19' Abbas 90+1'

Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah

Attendance: 9,757

Referee: Fu Ming (China PR)

Yemen

Iraq

GK 23 Saoud Al-Sowadi RB 21 Mohammed Ba Rowis CB 15 Ammar Hamsan CB 4 Mudir Al-Radaei LB 13 Ala Addin Mahdi RM 11 Abdulwasea Al-Matari CM 12 Ahmed Al-Haifi  46' CM 9 Ala Al-Sasi (c)  83' CM 17 Hussein Al-Ghazi  30' LM 7 Ahmed Al-Sarori CF 20 Emad Mansoor Substitutions: MF 8 Wahid Al Khyat  52'  30' MF 6 Ahmed Abdulrab  46' FW 10 Ahmed Dhabaan  83' Manager: Ján Kocian

GK 1 Jalal Hassan (c) RB 17 Alaa Ali Mhawi CB 2 Ahmad Ibrahim CB 22 Rebin Sulaka LB 6 Ali Adnan DM 7 Safaa Hadi RM 9 Ahmed Yasin CM 13 Bashar Resan CM 16 Hussein Ali  88' LM 11 Humam Tariq  55' CF 10 Mohanad Ali  71' Substitutions: MF 14 Amjad Attwan  55' FW 21 Alaa Abbas  71' FW 19 Mohammed Dawood  88' Manager: Srečko Katanec

Man of the Match: Mohanad Ali (Iraq) Assistant referees: [7] Huo Weiming (China PR) Cao Yi (China PR) Fourth official: Mohamad Zainal Abidin (Malaysia) Additional assistant referees: Ma Ning (China PR) Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong)

Vietnam vs Yemen

Mudir Al-Radaei involved himself in an altercation with Nguyễn Công Phượng to concede a free kick, picking up a yellow card from referee Ahmed Al-Kaf and from the resulting free kick, Vietnam took the lead. Nguyễn Quang Hải sent a left-foot strike from 25 yards curling away from Salem Al-Harsh and into the top corner of the goal. Ten minutes into the second half, a move started by Đỗ Hùng Dũng's angled ball down the right allowed Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng to pull his cross back to Công Phượng, only for his shot to be blocked by the Yemeni defence. Seconds later, Hùng Dũng’s shot was collected by Al-Harsh. Ahmed Al-Sarori outpaced Đoàn Văn Hậu before firing a right foot shot that flew across the face of goal. Four minutes after the hour mark, though, Vietnam added the second from the penalty spot. Phan Văn Đức burst past Abdulaziz Al-Gumaei, surging into the box before the Yemeni defender wrestled him to the ground. Quế Ngọc Hải calmly slid the spot kick home to give Vietnam the win. ^[9] However, as Vietnam was unable to score more than two goals, Vietnam had been forced to wait until the final group stage matches, in which they managed to become the last team to qualify for the knockout stage. ^[10]

16 January 2019 (2019-01-16)

20:00

Vietnam	2–0	Yemen
Nguyễn Quang Hải 38' Quế Ngọc Hải 64' (pen.)	Report

Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 8,237

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Vietnam

Yemen

GK 23 Đặng Văn Lâm RB 8 Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng CB 4 Bùi Tiến Dũng CB 3 Quế Ngọc Hải (c) LB 5 Đoàn Văn Hậu DM 12 Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy CM 6 Lương Xuân Trường  53' CM 16 Đỗ Hùng Dũng RW 19 Nguyễn Quang Hải LW 20 Phan Văn Đức  72' CF 10 Nguyễn Công Phượng  78'  82' Substitutions: FW 22 Nguyễn Tiến Linh  53' FW 9 Nguyễn Văn Toàn  72' MF 14 Trần Minh Vương  82' Manager: Park Hang-seo

GK 22 Salem Al-Harsh RB 21 Mohammed Ba Rowis CB 15 Ammar Hamsan  57' CB 4 Mudir Al-Radaei LB 13 Ala Addin Mahdi  27' DM 19 Mohammed Boqshan RM 11 Abdulwasea Al-Matari CM 8 Wahid Al Khyat  37'  76' CM 9 Ala Al-Sasi (c) LM 7 Ahmed Al-Sarori CF 20 Emad Mansoor  25' Substitutions: FW 10 Ahmed Dhabaan  25' DF 5 Abdulaziz Al-Gumaei  63'  57' FW 18 Ahmed Alos  76' Manager: Ján Kocian

Man of the Match: Nguyễn Quang Hải (Vietnam) Assistant referees: [11] Abu Bakar Al-Amri (Oman) Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman) Fourth official: Hiroshi Yamauchi (Japan) Additional assistant referees: Jumpei Iida (Japan) Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

Iran vs Iraq

See also: Iran–Iraq football rivalry

Iran vs. Iraq

Iran had the first chance at goal in the 12th minute when Vahid Amiri sent a cross into the box but Sardar Azmoun’s header was just off the mark. Three minutes from the half-time whistle, Alireza Jahanbakhsh latched on to Azmoun’s deflected attempt but couldn’t get his left-footed strike on target. Iran, in a bid to break down the Iraq defence, boosted their attacking prowess by bringing on Mehdi Taremi and Mehdi Torabi in the 63rd and 75th minutes respectively. However, it was Iraq who nearly took the lead in the 77th minute when substitute Alaa Abbas’s header was tipped over the bar by Alireza Beiranvand. As the minutes ticked away, neither team was able to make headway as they settled for a share of the spoils. ^[12]

16 January 2019 (2019-01-16)

20:00

Iran	0–0	Iraq
	Report

Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai

Attendance: 15,038

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Iran

Iraq

GK 1 Alireza Beiranvand CB 4 Rouzbeh Cheshmi  80' CB 13 Hossein Kanaanizadegan CB 19 Majid Hosseini RWB 2 Voria Ghafouri LWB 5 Milad Mohammadi DM 9 Omid Ebrahimi (c) RM 18 Alireza Jahanbakhsh  63' LM 11 Vahid Amiri  68' AM 14 Saman Ghoddos  39'  75' CF 20 Sardar Azmoun Substitutions: MF 17 Mehdi Taremi  63' MF 16 Mehdi Torabi  75' MF 21 Ashkan Dejagah  80' Manager: Carlos Queiroz

GK 1 Jalal Hassan (c) RB 17 Alaa Ali Mhawi CB 2 Ahmad Ibrahim  78' CB 5 Ali Faez LB 6 Ali Adnan  82' CM 7 Safaa Hadi CM 14 Amjad Attwan  34' RW 9 Ahmed Yasin  46' AM 16 Hussein Ali  77' LW 11 Humam Tariq CF 10 Mohanad Ali  71' Substitutions: MF 13 Bashar Resan  46' FW 21 Alaa Abbas  71' FW 19 Mohammed Dawood  77' Manager: Srečko Katanec

Man of the Match: Alireza Beiranvand (Iran) Assistant referees: [11] Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan) Jakhongir Saidov (Uzbekistan) Fourth official: Sergei Grishchenko (Kyrgyzstan) Additional assistant referees: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan) Ilgiz Tantashev (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] [13]}

• 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
Iraq	1								3				−4
Iran	1				2				2				−5
Vietnam	2				2				1				−5
Yemen	4				1				3				−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. "IR Iran 5–0 Yemen". AFC. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
5. "Iraq 3–2 Vietnam". AFC. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
6. "Vietnam 0–2 IR Iran". AFC. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
7. "MATCH OFFICIALS FOR JANUARY 12". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
8. "Yemen 0–3 Iraq". AFC. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
9. "Vietnam 2–0 Yemen". AFC. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
10. "Vietnam qualify for Asian Cup round of 16 in thrilling fashion".
11. "MATCH OFFICIALS FOR JANUARY 16". AFC. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
12. "IR Iran 0–0 Iraq". AFC. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
13. "Competition Operations Manual 2019". AFC.

External links

• Official website