2023 AFC Asian Cup Group E

Group E of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup took place from 15 to 25 January 2024. ^[1] The group consisted of South Korea, Malaysia, Jordan and Bahrain. ^[2] The top two teams, Bahrain and South Korea, along with third-placed Jordan (as one of the four best third-placed teams), advanced to the round of 16.

Teams

Draw position	Team	Zone	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Rankings
								April 2023 [nb 1]	December 2023
E1	South Korea	EAFF	Second round Group H winners	9 June 2021	15th	2019	Winners (1956, 1960)	27	23
E2	Malaysia	AFF	Third round Group E runners-up	14 June 2022	4th	2007	Group stage (1976, 1980, 2007)	138	130
E3	Jordan	WAFF	Third round Group A winners	14 June 2022	5th	2019	Quarter-finals (2004, 2011)	84	87
E4	Bahrain	WAFF	Third round Group E winners	14 June 2022	7th	2019	Fourth place (2004)	85	86

Notes

1. The rankings of April 2023 were used for seeding for the final draw.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahrain	3	2	0	1	3	3	0	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	South Korea	3	1	2	0	8	6	+2	5
3	Jordan	3	1	1	1	6	3	+3	4
4	Malaysia	3	0	1	2	3	8	−5	1

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Matches

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

South Korea vs Bahrain

This was the fourth time South Korea faced Bahrain in a competitive AFC Asian Cup fixture. Their most recent encounter happened in 2019, where South Korea claimed a hard-fought 2–1 win; all three previous Asian Cup encounters ended by the same scoreline, with Bahrain claiming one win—in 2007—while South Korea won two others, in 2011 and 2019.

The match started with great difficulties for the South Koreans due to Bahrain's aggressive efforts, which saw South Korea receive three yellow cards. However, South Korea managed to regroup and re-applied pressure against Bahrain. In the 38th minute, following a foul from Ali Madan, Park Yong-woo quickly provided a long-range pass to Lee Jae-sung before he gave a low pass toward Hwang In-beom, who then struck Bahrain's net despite frantic efforts by Bahraini defenders. In the second half, Bahrain surprisingly gave a quick response in the 51st minute; a brilliant high pass from Madan gave the ball to Mohamed Marhoon, whose shot got deflected by Jung Seung-hyun to Abdullah Al-Hashash, as he didn't miss the opportunity to equalise. Five minutes later, attempt to clear the ball from defender Mohamed Adel resulted in the ball instead given to Kim Min-jae, who then sent the ball to Lee Kang-in before Lee himself delivered a thunderous shot to restore South Korea's lead. Lee then finished the game in the 68th minute when Mohamed Al-Hardan mishandled the ball to Son Heung-min, who then passed to Hwang In-beom before Hwang sent it to Lee Kang-in, who then gave a clinical finish to the bottom right corner of Ebrahim Lutfalla.

This was the first time South Korea managed to defeat Bahrain with more than one-goal margin, with all three previous meetings all ended with one-goal difference.

15 January 2024 (2024-01-15)

14:30

South Korea	3–1	Bahrain
Hwang In-beom 38' Lee Kang-in 56', 68'	Report	Al-Hashash 51'

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 8,388

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

South Korea

Bahrain

GK 1 Kim Seung-gyu RB 22 Seol Young-woo CB 15 Jung Seung-hyun CB 4 Kim Min-jae  13'  72' LB 2 Lee Ki-je  28'  52' RM 18 Lee Kang-in CM 6 Hwang In-beom CM 5 Park Yong-woo  9'  82' LM 10 Lee Jae-sung  82' CF 7 Son Heung-min (c)  90+4' CF 9 Cho Gue-sung  61'  72' Substitutions: DF 23 Kim Tae-hwan  52' DF 19 Kim Young-gwon  72' MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok  72' MF 16 Park Jin-seop  82' MF 17 Jeong Woo-yeong  82' Manager: Jürgen Klinsmann

GK 22 Ebrahim Lutfalla RB 18 Mohamed Adel  72' CB 2 Amine Benaddi  46' CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c) LB 19 Hazza Ali CM 13 Moses Atede  45'  65' CM 6 Mohamed Al-Hardan CM 8 Mohamed Marhoon RF 7 Ali Madan  31'  82' CF 14 Abdullah Al-Hashash  66' LF 10 Kamil Al-Aswad Substitutions: DF 4 Sayed Baqer  46' MF 24 Jasim Khelaif  65' FW 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal  66' MF 20 Mahdi Al-Humaidan  72' MF 25 Ibrahim Al-Wali  82' Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi

Man of the Match: Lee Kang-in (South Korea) Assistant referees: Zhou Fei (China) Zhang Cheng (China) Fourth official: Yusuke Araki (Japan) Reserve assistant referee: Takumi Takagi (Japan) Video assistant referee: Fu Ming (China) Assistant video assistant referees: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Malaysia vs Jordan

This was the first time Malaysia faced Jordan in the AFC Asian Cup finals. Their latest competitive meeting was at the 1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where Malaysia and Jordan were held to a goalless draw. Jordan have been undefeated to Malaysia nor even conceded a goal.

The match was quickly dominated by Jordan over an inexperienced Malaysian side and they soon overpowered Malaysia when Yazan Al-Naimat produced a backheel for Mahmoud Al-Mardi, who then curved the ball into Malaysia's net in the 12th minute. Six minutes later, things became even better for Jordan when Malaysia's captain Matthew Davies committed a foul on Al-Naimat in the penalty area before Musa Al-Taamari converted it to double Jordan's lead. In the 32th minute, it was Al-Taamari who again capitalised from his team's counterattack in Malaysia's left bank to pass to Al-Naimat, who then overcame Syihan Hazmi before sending it for Al-Mardi to secure his poker. Despite Malaysia's improvement in the second half, Malaysia ended up not just failing to score, but even in a failed offensive, Musa Al-Taamari added to his credential from a long pass before flicking over Hazmi to secure Jordan's big win.

Jordan once again defeated Malaysia effortedly to remain undefeated and did not concede a goal.

15 January 2024 (2024-01-15)

20:30

Malaysia	0–4	Jordan
	Report	Al-Mardi 12', 32' Al-Taamari 18' (pen.), 85'

Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Attendance: 20,410

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

Malaysia

Jordan

GK 16 Syihan Hazmi CB 2 Matthew Davies (c) CB 15 Junior Eldstål CB 21 Dion Cools RM 12 Arif Aiman Hanapi  63' CM 20 Afiq Fazail  80' CM 8 Stuart Wilkin LM 22 La'Vere Corbin-Ong RF 7 Faisal Halim  80' CF 9 Darren Lok  46' LF 26 Romel Morales  63' Substitutions: DF 3 Shahrul Saad  46' MF 17 Paulo Josué  63' FW 19 Akhyar Rashid  63' FW 13 Mohamadou Sumareh  80' FW 11 Safawi Rasid  80' Manager: Kim Pan-gon

GK 1 Yazid Abu Layla RB 23 Ihsan Haddad (c)  67' CB 3 Abdallah Nasib CB 5 Yazan Al-Arab LB 17 Salem Al-Ajalin CM 21 Nizar Al-Rashdan  45+1'  67' CM 8 Noor Al-Rawabdeh RW 10 Musa Al-Taamari  89' AM 9 Ali Olwan LW 13 Mahmoud Al-Mardi  35' CF 11 Yazan Al-Naimat  67' Substitutions: DF 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish  35' MF 14 Rajaei Ayed  67' DF 16 Feras Shelbaieh  67' MF 25 Anas Al-Awadat  67' FW 20 Hamza Al-Dardour  89' Manager: Hussein Ammouta

Man of the Match: Mahmoud Al-Mardi (Jordan) Assistant referees: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates) Fourth official: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia) Reserve assistant referee: Khalaf Al-Shammari (Saudi Arabia) Video assistant referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates) Assistant video assistant referees: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

Jordan vs South Korea

This was the second Asian Cup finals encounter between Jordan and South Korea; their only Asian Cup meeting was in 2004 where Jordan shocked South Korea with a goalless draw. The last time the two met each other in any competitive fixtures occurred during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, which South Korea gained a first-ever win over Jordan 1–0 away; despite this, South Korea remained undefeated to Jordan with three wins and two draws.

South Korea quickly applied pressure and an unnecessary foul from Ihsan Haddad to Son Heung-min at the fifth minute resulted in a penalty after a lengthy VAR consultation; Son didn't miss the opportunity to convert it to goal. However, this goal ended up triggering the Jordanian fightback and it was Jordan, not South Korea, that applied pressure. In one such attempt at the 37th minute, a corner kick by the Jordanians resulted in Park Yong-woo (who was being pressured by Yazan Al-Arab) scoring an own goal to equalise the match. To make it better for Jordan, before the end of the first half, at the sixth minute of extra time, Musa Al-Taamari produced a solo; despite his shot was being prevented by Jung Seung-hyun, it deflected wide enough for Yazan Al-Naimat to take the volley and give Jordan a shock lead. At the second half, Jordan's organised defence proved to be highly effective as South Korea could not find the back of the net, but when the match came to extra time, Son Heung-min managed to sneak into Jordanian penalty area, providing a pass to Hwang In-beom, whose shot later hit the foot of Al-Arab before deflecting to Yazid Abu Layla's net, confirming the result to a thrilling draw.

This result meant South Korea remained undefeated to Jordan after six meetings, yet South Korea had not defeated Jordan in both Asian Cup meetings, while Jordan missed out another opportunity to produce a shock result after their neighbour Iraq shocked Japan a day earlier.

20 January 2024 (2024-01-20)

14:30

Jordan	2–2	South Korea
Park Yong-woo 37' (o.g.) Al-Naimat 45+6'	Report	Son Heung-min 9' (pen.) Al-Arab 90+1' (o.g.)

Al Thumama Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 36,627

Referee: Salman Falahi (Qatar)

Jordan

South Korea

GK 1 Yazid Abu Layla RB 23 Ihsan Haddad (c)  8' CB 3 Abdallah Nasib CB 5 Yazan Al-Arab  29' LB 17 Salem Al-Ajalin RM 10 Musa Al-Taamari  18' CM 21 Nizar Al-Rashdan  84' CM 14 Rajaei Ayed  74' LM 13 Mahmoud Al-Mardi  74' CF 9 Ali Olwan CF 11 Yazan Al-Naimat  84' Substitutions: DF 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish  74' MF 26 Fadi Awad  74' MF 15 Ibrahim Sadeh  84' MF 25 Anas Al-Awadat  84' Manager: Hussein Ammouta

GK 21 Jo Hyeon-woo RB 22 Seol Young-woo CB 15 Jung Seung-hyun CB 4 Kim Min-jae LB 2 Lee Ki-je  46' RM 18 Lee Kang-in CM 5 Park Yong-woo  46' CM 6 Hwang In-beom  28'  90+4' LM 10 Lee Jae-sung  69' CF 7 Son Heung-min (c) CF 9 Cho Gue-sung  69' Substitutions: MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok  46' DF 23 Kim Tae-hwan  46' FW 20 Oh Hyeon-gyu  90+5'  69' MF 17 Jeong Woo-yeong  69' MF 16 Park Jin-seop  90+4' Manager: Jürgen Klinsmann

Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (South Korea) Assistant referees: Taleb Al-Marri (Qatar) Saoud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar) Fourth official: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates) Reserve assistant referee: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar) Assistant video assistant referees: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

Bahrain vs Malaysia

Bahrain and Malaysia met each other shortly after their recent meeting during the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification. Malaysia won just two in 12 previous meetings, but Bahrain dominated in all competitive fixtures with an undefeated record, including the most recent 2–1 win in the same Asian Cup qualification.

The match was largely a dull affair as neither Bahrain or Malaysia proved to be the better side for most of the game, until the fifth minute of the second half's extra time, when from a corner kick, the ball was deflected to Ali Madan, who then unleashed his long-range shot at the surprise of the Malaysians as Syihan Hazmi failed to clear out despite having his hand slightly touching the ball, resulting in the only goal of the match at death.

With this result, Malaysia failed to advance past the group stage of an AFC Asian Cup again after four appearances, while they were also struggling to find their first Asian Cup win since 1980 (2–0 against the United Arab Emirates).

20 January 2024 (2024-01-20)

17:30

Bahrain	1–0	Malaysia
Madan 90+5'	Report

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 10,386

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Bahrain

Malaysia

GK 22 Ebrahim Lutfalla RB 18 Mohamed Adel CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c) CB 4 Sayed Baqer LB 19 Hazza Ali  79' CM 6 Mohamed Al-Hardan CM 13 Moses Atede  55' RW 7 Ali Madan AM 10 Kamil Al-Aswad  45+1'  71' LW 8 Mohamed Marhoon  70' CF 14 Abdullah Al-Hashash  55' Substitutions: MF 15 Jasim Al-Shaikh  55' FW 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal  55' FW 20 Mahdi Al-Humaidan  70' MF 12 Ali Hassan Isa  71' DF 23 Abdullah Al-Khalasi  79' Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi

GK 16 Syihan Hazmi CB 6 Dominic Tan CB 3 Shahrul Saad  52' CB 21 Dion Cools RWB 2 Matthew Davies (c) LWB 22 La'Vere Corbin-Ong RM 12 Arif Aiman Hanapi  75' CM 14 Syamer Kutty Abba  19'  46' CM 8 Stuart Wilkin LM 7 Faisal Halim  84' CF 17 Paulo Josué  75' Substitutions: MF 24 Natxo Insa  46' FW 19 Akhyar Rashid  75' FW 26 Romel Morales  75' FW 13 Mohamadou Sumareh  84' Manager: Kim Pan-gon

Man of the Match: Ali Madan (Bahrain) Assistant referees: Abu Bakar Al-Amri (Oman) Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman) Fourth official: Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq) Reserve assistant referee: Ahmed Al-Baghdadi (Iraq) Video assistant referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates) Assistant video assistant referees: Shaun Evans (Australia)

South Korea vs Malaysia

South Korea faced Malaysia for the first time since their last meeting during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification in June 1989, which South Korea won 3–0. In term of Asian Cup finals encounter however, Malaysia held South Korea to a 1–1 draw back in 1980.

South Korea got off to a dream start when Jeong Woo-yeong came out better in a corner, whose header saw the ball cross the line despite Syihan Hazmi's effort to give South Korea the lead at the 21st minute after VAR intervened. However, Malaysia put up a shock fightback at the early part of the second half; first, a clumsy defending by Hwang In-beom saw the ball intercepted by Darren Lok, who gave the ball to Arif Aiman Hanapi and then Faisal Halim. The latter tied both Kim Min-jae and Jo Hyeon-woo in knots before slotting it home. Seol Young-woo then fouled Arif in the 58th minute, a situation that VAR again intervened for four minutes before Arif converted to give Malaysia the lead. In the 83rd minute however, Lee Kang-in pounced on the ball brilliantly from a set-piece, which hit Syihan before deflecting into Malaysia's net. Drama came in the first minute of added time when Oh Hyeon-gyu, latching onto Hwang Hee-chan's horizontal delivery, was fouled by Junior Eldstål, which resulted in a VAR-assisted penalty that Son Heung-min converted. But as the Koreans were about to top the table, Malaysia left the last mark when from another mistake by the South Korean defence, Paulo Josué made a clinical pass for Romel Morales, allowing the Colombian to seal the deal with a low shot into the bottom right corner well out of Jo's reach and end the match in a manic draw.

Despite not winning a single match and were firmly eliminated before this encounter, the 3–3 draw meant Malaysia got their first point in the AFC Asian Cup since 1980, the last time they qualified not as a host country. For South Korea, they once again failed to win against Malaysia at the AFC Asian Cup (drawn two), and because of Bahrain's 1–0 win over Jordan, South Korea failed to top the group table for the first time since 2011.

25 January 2024 (2024-01-25)

14:30

South Korea	3–3	Malaysia
Jeong Woo-yeong 21' Lee Kang-in 83' Son Heung-min 90+4' (pen.)	Report	Faisal 51' Arif 62' (pen.) Morales 90+15'

Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Attendance: 30,117

Referee: Khalid Al-Turais (Saudi Arabia)

South Korea

Malaysia

GK 21 Jo Hyeon-woo RB 23 Kim Tae-hwan CB 19 Kim Young-gwon CB 4 Kim Min-jae LB 22 Seol Young-woo  75' CM 6 Hwang In-beom  62' CM 17 Jeong Woo-yeong  75' RW 18 Lee Kang-in AM 7 Son Heung-min (c) LW 10 Lee Jae-sung  19'  90+11' CF 9 Cho Gue-sung  62' Substitutions: FW 11 Hwang Hee-chan  62' MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok  62' DF 3 Kim Jin-su  75' FW 20 Oh Hyeon-gyu  75' MF 5 Park Yong-woo  90+11' Manager: Jürgen Klinsmann

GK 16 Syihan Hazmi CB 3 Shahrul Saad CB 21 Dion Cools (c) CB 6 Dominic Tan  84' RM 4 Daniel Ting CM 18 Brendan Gan  90+11' CM 8 Stuart Wilkin LM 22 La'Vere Corbin-Ong AM 12 Arif Aiman Hanapi  84' AM 7 Faisal Halim  84' CF 9 Darren Lok  73' Substitutions: FW 17 Paulo Josué  73' MF 14 Syamer Kutty Abba  84' DF 15 Junior Eldstål  84' FW 19 Akhyar Rashid  84' FW 26 Romel Morales  90+11' Manager: Kim Pan-gon

Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (South Korea) Assistant referees: Zaid Al-Shammari (Saudi Arabia) Yasir Al-Sultan (Saudi Arabia) Fourth official: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar) Reserve assistant referee: Watheq Al-Swaiedi (Iraq) Video assistant referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar) Assistant video assistant referees: Mohammed Al Hoish (Saudi Arabia)

Jordan vs Bahrain

This was the two's first competitive encounter since the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, where both teams gained a win each. The two teams' most recent meeting was in a friendly in 2021, where Jordan won 2–1. This was also the first Asian Cup meetings between the two.

In a match where Bahrain needed to secure at least a point against already qualified Jordan, the Jordanians were the ones to make stronger start. However, as Jordan were trying to find the goal, they were punished from a counterattack at the 34th minute from a brilliant defending effort by the Bahrainis, which saw Ali Madan provide a clinical gift for Abdulla Yusuf Helal, who then sprinted into the net of Yazid Abu Layla before scoring at the bottom left corner. The goal turned out to be the only goal of the match, as both teams' rather dull performances meant Bahrain secured the win.

With this result, combined with South Korea's dropping two points to a shock draw to Malaysia at the same time, it was the first time ever in Bahrain's Asian Cup history that they managed to win two group stage matches and topped the group stage table.

25 January 2024 (2024-01-25)

14:30

Jordan	0–1	Bahrain
	Report	Helal 34'

Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 39,650

Referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)

Jordan

Bahrain

GK 1 Yazid Abu Layla CB 3 Abdallah Nasib CB 19 Anas Bani Yaseen (c) CB 17 Salem Al-Ajalin  56'  85' RM 16 Feras Shelbaieh CM 26 Fadi Awad CM 14 Rajaei Ayed  74' LM 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish AM 24 Yousef Abu Jalboush  85' AM 9 Ali Olwan  67'  74' CF 11 Yazan Al-Naimat  74' Substitutions: MF 15 Ibrahim Sadeh  74' MF 25 Anas Al-Awadat  74' FW 20 Hamza Al-Dardour  74' DF 4 Bara' Marei  85' MF 18 Saleh Rateb  85' Manager: Hussein Ammouta

GK 22 Ebrahim Lutfalla RB 18 Mohamed Adel  81' CB 4 Sayed Baqer CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c) LB 23 Abdullah Al-Khalasi CM 6 Mohamed Al-Hardan  81' CM 15 Jasim Al-Shaikh RW 7 Ali Madan  62' AM 10 Kamil Al-Aswad  63' LW 8 Mohamed Marhoon  71' CF 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal Substitutions: MF 16 Mohammed Abdul Qayoom  62' FW 20 Mahdi Al-Humaidan  63' MF 11 Ebrahim Al-Khattal  71' MF 25 Ibrahim Al-Wali  81' DF 26 Hussain Al-Eker  81' Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi

Man of the Match: Abdulla Yusuf Helal (Bahrain) Assistant referees: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates) Fourth official: Ma Ning (China) Reserve assistant referee: Zhou Fei (China) Video assistant referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates) Assistant video assistant referees: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

Discipline

Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:

• first yellow card: −1 point;
• indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
• direct red card: −3 points;
• yellow card and 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
South Korea	5				2				1				–8
Malaysia					2								–2
Jordan	1				3				2				–6
Bahrain	2				1								–3

References

1. ""Match Schedule – AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023"" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
2. "#AsianCup2023 Groups Finalised". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 May 2023.

External links

• Official website