2019 WAFF Championship

2019 WAFF Championship

بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم 2019
Tournament details
Host country	Iraq
Dates	30 July – 14 August
Teams	9 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Bahrain (1st title)
Runners-up	Iraq
Tournament statistics
Matches played	17
Goals scored	34 (2 per match)
Attendance	148,683 (8,746 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Hussein Ali (3 goals)
Best player(s)	Hussein Ali
← 2013 2025 →

The 2019 West Asian Football Federation Championship, also called Asiacell WAFF Championship Iraq 2019 due to sponsorship by Asiacell, ^[1] was the 9th edition of the WAFF Championship, an international tournament for member nations of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). It was hosted in Iraq for the first time, in the cities of Karbala and Erbil.

The tournament was meant to be held from 8 to 17 December 2017 in Amman, Jordan, ^[2] but was postponed to a later date, ^[3] and subsequently moved to Iraq on 21 May 2018. ^[4] It was then expected to be held in November 2018, but yet again postponed to July–August 2019. ^[5]

All WAFF members, excluding title holders Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, participated in the competition. Of the nine teams, seven had also appeared in the previous tournament in 2014. A total of 17 matches were played in two venues across two cities. The final took place on 14 August at the Karbala Sports City in Karbala, between hosts Iraq and Bahrain. Bahrain won the match 1–0 to claim their first WAFF Championship title, marking the second consecutive title won by a Gulf team.

Teams

Participants

A total of nine teams participated in the competition. ^{[6] [7]} All WAFF members, other than Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, agreed to take part in the tournament.

Team	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
Bahrain	4th	2014	Third place
Iraq	8th	2014	Winners
Jordan	9th	2014	Runners-up
Kuwait	4th	2014	Winners
Lebanon	7th	2014	Group stage
Palestine	9th	2014	Group stage
Saudi Arabia	3rd	2014	Group stage
Syria	8th	2012	Winners
Yemen	3rd	2012	Semi-finals

Draw

The teams were distributed on 26 June 2019 in Erbil according to their requests. ^{[8] [9] [10]} The nine teams were drawn into two groups: Group A with 5 teams and Group B with 4. While the draw was intended to be held between 18 and 20 July 2019, ^[11] some teams requested the organizing committee to play in Erbil, therefore placing them in Group B, with the rest of the teams being placed in Group A to play in Karbala. ^[10] The two group winners directly advanced to the final. ^[12]

The draw for the group fixtures was held on 20 July 2019 at the Iraq Football Association headquarters in Baghdad. ^[1]

Squads

Main article: 2019 WAFF Championship squads

Each team had to register a squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers. ^[13]

Officiating

Referees Wathik Al-Baag (Iraq) Mohammed Al-Noori (Iraq) Mohammad Arafah (Jordan) Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia) Ali Al-Samaheeji (Bahrain) Saad Khalefah (Kuwait) Wissam Rabie (Syria) Mohamad Issa (Lebanon) Sameh Al-Qassas (Palestine) Mahmood Al-Majarafi (Oman) Haitham Al-Walidi (Yemen)

Assistant Referees Muayad Mohamed Ali (Iraq) Jihad Dawood (Iraq) Mahmoud Abu-Thaher (Jordan) Khalaf Al-Shammari (Saudi Arabia) Salah Janahi (Bahrain) Humoud Al-Sahli (Kuwait) Abdullah Kanaan (Syria) Ali Mokdad (Lebanon) Amin Shaban Halabi (Palestine) Hamed Al-Ghafri (Oman) Ali Al-Hasani (Yemen)

Venues

Karbala	Karbala Erbil	Erbil
Karbala Sports City (Karbala International Stadium)		Franso Hariri Stadium
Capacity: 30,000		Capacity: 25,000

Group stage

The WAFF announced the tournament schedule on 20 July 2019. ^[1] The group winners advance to the final. ^[12]

All times are local, AST (UTC+3).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iraq (H)	4	3	1	0	5	2	+3	10	Advances to final
2	Palestine	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1	7
3	Yemen	4	1	1	2	4	5	−1	4
4	Lebanon	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	4
5	Syria	4	0	2	2	5	7	−2	2

Source: Goalzz
(H) Hosts

30 July 2019

19:30

Iraq	1–0	Lebanon
Ali 57'	Report

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 25,125

Referee: Ali Al-Samaheeji (Bahrain)

30 July 2019

22:30

Yemen	0–1	Palestine
	Report	Hamed 26'

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 200

Referee: Mahmood Al-Majarafi (Oman)

---

2 August 2019

19:30

Palestine	1–2	Iraq
Batran 3' (pen.)	Report	Abdul-Raheem 22' Ali 83' (pen.)

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 12,980 ^[14]

Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

2 August 2019

22:30

Lebanon	2–1	Syria
Matar 81' Moni 90+1'	Report	Al Douni 48'

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 500

Referee: Mohammad Arafah (Jordan)

---

5 August 2019

19:30

Syria	1–1	Yemen
Al-Khatib 61'	Report	Qarawi 45+2'

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 155

Referee: Mahmood Al-Majarafi (Oman)

5 August 2019

22:30

Lebanon	0–0	Palestine
	Report

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 500

Referee: Saad Khalefah (Kuwait)

---

8 August 2019

19:30

Yemen	2–1	Lebanon
Mansoor 43' Al-Matari 45+1' (pen.)	Report	Kdouh 26'

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Ali Al-Samaheeji (Bahrain)

8 August 2019

22:30

Syria	0–0	Iraq
	Report

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 33,500 ^[15]

Referee: Mohammad Arafah (Jordan)

---

11 August 2019

19:30

Palestine	4–3	Syria
Batran 45+3' Dabbagh 60' (pen.), 61' Yameen 89'	Report	Mobayed 3' Al-Khatib 66' (pen.) Mardikian 73'

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 3,510 ^[16]

Referee: Saad Khalefah (Kuwait)

11 August 2019

22:30

Iraq	2–1	Yemen
Bayesh 26' Ali 31' (pen.)	Report	Al-Matari 90'

Karbala Sports City, Karbala

Attendance: 11,213 ^[17]

Referee: Ali Al-Samaheeji (Bahrain)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahrain	3	2	1	0	2	0	+2	7	Advances to final
2	Jordan	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	4
3	Kuwait	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	Saudi Arabia	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

Source: Goalzz

4 August 2019

19:30

Jordan	0–1	Bahrain
	Report	Abdullatif 69'

Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil

Attendance: 3,500

Referee: Haitham Al-Walidi (Yemen)

4 August 2019

22:30

Saudi Arabia	1–2	Kuwait
Sufyani 13'	Report	Al-Musawi 25' (pen.) Ajab 67'

Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil

Attendance: 5,500

Referee: Mohammed Al-Noori (Iraq)

---

7 August 2019

19:30

Bahrain	0–0	Saudi Arabia
	Report

Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil

Attendance: 2,500 ^[18]

Referee: Wissam Rabie (Syria)

7 August 2019

22:30

Kuwait	1–1	Jordan
Zayid 3' (pen.)	Report	Al-Ajalin 90+4'

Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Mohamad Issa (Lebanon)

---

10 August 2019

19:30

Jordan	3–0	Saudi Arabia
Murjan 59' Al-Rawashdeh 90+3' Shelbaieh 90+9' (pen.)	Report

Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil

Attendance: 500 ^[19]

Referee: Sameh Al-Qassas (Palestine)

10 August 2019

22:30

Kuwait	0–1	Bahrain
	Report	Abdullatif 80'

Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil

Attendance: 2,000 ^[20]

Referee: Wathik Al-Baag (Iraq)

Final

14 August 2019

20:30

Iraq	0–1	Bahrain
	Report	Moosa 40'

Karbala International Stadium, Karbala

Attendance: 34,500

Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There have been 34 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.

3 goals

• Hussein Ali

2 goals

• Ismail Abdullatif
• Islam Batran
• Oday Dabbagh
• Firas Al-Khatib
• Abdulwasea Al-Matari

1 goal

• Isa Moosa
• Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
• Ibrahim Bayesh
• Salem Al-Ajalin
• Saeed Murjan
• Yousef Al-Rawashdeh
• Feras Shelbaieh
• Faisal Ajab
• Hussain Al-Musawi
• Faisal Zayid
• Mohamad Kdouh
• Nader Matar
• Hassan "Moni" Chaito
• Yaser Hamed
• Mohammed Yameen
• Rabee Sufyani
• Ahmad Al Douni
• Mardik Mardikian
• Khaled Mobayed
• Emad Mansoor
• Mohsen Qarawi

Final ranking

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	Bahrain	4	3	1	0	3	0	+3	10	Champions
2	Iraq	5	3	1	1	5	3	+2	10	Runners-up
3	Palestine	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1	7	Eliminated in the Group stage
4	Jordan	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	4
5	Kuwait	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
6	Yemen	4	1	1	2	4	5	−1	4
7	Lebanon	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	4
8	Syria	4	0	2	2	5	7	−2	2
9	Saudi Arabia	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

Source: WAFF

Prize money

Prize money amounts were announced in 2019. ^[21]

Position	Amount (USD)
Champions	100,000
Runner-up	50,000
Total	150,000

Broadcasting rights

The WAFF sold the broadcasting rights for the 2019 WAFF Championship to the following broadcasters. ^{[22] [23]}

Country	Broadcaster
Iraq	Al Iraqiya Sports Duhok Sport
Jordan	Jordan Sport
Kuwait	KTV Sports
Lebanon	Télé Liban
Syria	Sharjah Sports

References

1. ""آسيا سيل" ترعى بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا التاسعة للرجال". The WAFF. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
2. "7 منتخبات تؤكد المشاركة في غرب آسيـا ومنتخبنـا يرسل قائمته الأوليـة". shabiba.com (in Arabic). 7 November 2017.
3. "تأجيل بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم". Alrai. 25 November 2017.
4. "Iraq to host first international football tournament". AFP.com. 21 May 2018.
5. إسماعيل, بغداد-علي. "العراق يحدد المدن التي ستستضيف بطولة غرب آسيا 2019". alaraby.
6. "ملعب كربلاء جاهز لاستضافة بطولة غرب آسيا للرجال" [Karbala Stadium ready to host the West Asian Men's Championship]. كووورة. 13 March 2019.
7. "منتخب السعودية يعلن مشاركته في بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم". سيناء الاخباري. 11 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
8. العراق يُحدد مجموعتي غرب آسيا دون إجراء القرعة!
9. "الفدائي ضمن المجموعة الأولى لبطولة غرب آسيا". شبكة أطلس سبورت. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
10. الفلسطينية, وكالة الصحافة (27 June 2019). ""الفدائي" في المجموعة الأولى لبطولة غرب أسيا". وكالة الصحافة الفلسطينية. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
11. Lebanon, Football. "اتحاد غرب آسيا يتابع التحضيرات لبطولة الرجال في العراق". football-lebanon.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
12. "توزيع المنتخبات على مجموعتين في بطولة غرب آسيا". كووورة. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
13. "خمسة حراس في منتخب لبنان". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
14. "Palestine 1-2 Iraq :: WAFF 2019 :: Match Events". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
15. "Syria 0-0 Iraq :: WAFF 2019 :: Match Events". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
16. "Palestine 4-3 Syria :: WAFF 2019 :: Match Events". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
17. "Iraq 2-1 Yemen :: WAFF 2019 :: Match Events". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
18. "Bahrain 0-0 Saudi-Arabia :: WAFF 2019 :: Match Events". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
19. "Jordan 3-0 Saudi-Arabia :: WAFF 2019 :: Match Events". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
20. "Kuwait 0-1 Bahrain :: WAFF 2019 :: Match Events". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
21. "بطولة غرب آسيا: العراق ولبنان يفتتحان النسخة التاسعة". beIN SPORTS (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 July 2019.
22. "خمس قنوات تنقل بطولة غرب آسيا". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
23. "الوزير فنيش شاكراً نظيره العراقيّ: تلفزيون لبنان سينقل مواجهتيّ لبنان مع سوريا وفلسطين". football-lebanon.com. 1 August 2019. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

External links

• Official website