The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 December 1996. Saudi Arabia defeated hosts United Arab Emirates in the final match in Abu Dhabi. As the runners-up, the United Arab Emirates represented the AFC in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup as the winners Saudi Arabia had qualified automatically as host.
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Asian zone (AFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.
The 2006 AFC Champions League was the 25th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the fourth edition under the current AFC Champions League title. Al-Ittihad automatically qualified for the quarter-finals as the title holders.
The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 14th FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. Brazil claimed their fourth title, becoming the first country to simultaneously hold all three World Cups of the same gender. The tournament was originally planned to be played 25 March to 16 April 2003, but was postponed because of the Iraq War.
The 2007 AFC Champions League was the 26th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 5th edition under the current AFC Champions League title.
Despite the nation being torn apart by civil war, Iraqi football in 2007 went as scheduled for the most part. Iraqi clubs participated in international competition, the Olympic team went through qualifications, and the national team played in different tournaments. No games by the national team or the Iraqi clubs were played in Iraq due to violence.
The 2008 season was the 60th season of competitive football in Iraq, since the creation of the Iraq Football Association in 1948.
This is a list of official football games played by Iran national football team between 1980 and 1989.
The AFC second round of 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification was contested between the 10 group winners from the First round split across 2 groups.
This is a list of official football games played by Iran national football team between 2010 and 2019.
The 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification was a qualification process organized by the AFC to determine the participating teams for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup, hosted by Australia, featured 16 teams.
The Iran men's national football team has participated in 14 editions of the AFC Asian Cup, first appearing in the 1968 Asian Cup after automatically qualifying as hosts. Overall, Iran is one of the most successful teams in Asia, having won three titles from 1968 to 1976. However, after the 1976 Asian Cup, Iran's best performance is just third place.
China PR has participated in the AFC Asian Cup since 1976.
Syria has been a major participant in the AFC Asian Cup with six appearances in the tournament, in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011, and 2019. However, Syria have failed to make the second round of the tournament, being eliminated in the group stage in all six editions they participated in.
Since the AFC Asian Cup was founded in 1956, Qatar has participated in 10 Asian Cups between 1980 and 2019. However, prior to the 2019 edition, Qatar only reached the quarter-finals twice: in 2000 as one of the two best third-place teams when the tournament had only 12 nations competing, and in 2011, when they finished second in Group A behind Uzbekistan.
Since the AFC Asian Cup was founded, so far, Bahrain has qualified for at least six Asian Cups, starting from 1988 and since 2004 to 2019. Bahrain, in spite of lesser population, has achieved a lot of impressive results, notably beating South Korea and Qatar 2–1 in 2007 and 2015, or a thrilling match with Japan in 2004 which Bahrain lost. However, in all six appearances, Bahrain's best result is just fourth place, in 2004. Since then, Bahrain has only made the knockout stage on one other occasion, in 2019.
North Korea has participated in five AFC Asian Cup and finished in fourth place, their best performance to date, during their maiden appearance in 1980.
Saudi Arabia is one of the most successful teams in Asia, having won three AFC Asian Cup titles and is one of the stronger teams in the continent. With influential experiences, the Saudi team has been a major force in the Asian Cup.
Indonesia has participated in five AFC Asian Cup in their football history. Their first ever appearance was in 1996. Since then, Indonesia had repeatedly qualified for 2000, 2004, and 2007 tournaments, the latter was the first time Indonesia hosted it. Even though having a rich record, Indonesia has never progressed beyond group stage. They qualified for the fifth time in 2023.
The United Arab Emirates is one of the more successful teams in the Asian Cup qualifying for ten editions from 1980 to 2019. They have qualified for the semi-finals on four occasions, as well as the final in 1996, however they have never won an Asian Cup.
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