# Kuwait at the AFC Asian Cup

Kuwait is one of the most successful teams in the AFC Asian Cup, having won the title once, during the 1980 edition which they were awarded as host, becoming the first Arab team to win the Asian Cup.
During 1970s to 2000s, Kuwait had risen from a normal, unknown to become one of Asia's most prestigious teams and Kuwait was regarded for having a group of golden generation that would facilitate and develop football among the Arab Persian Gulf states. Kuwait had also qualified for the FIFA World Cup once, in 1982, thanked for the success in Asian Cup. Kuwait remained a powerful team until 2004, when they were surprisingly knocked out from the group stage. Since then, Kuwait's strength has started to diminish slowly, and although had qualified for 2011 and 2015, Kuwait didn't win any matches. Kuwait was even excluded for 2019 edition, due to FIFA's sanctions over Government's interference.

## Kuwait's Asian Cup record

| AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | AFC Asian Cup record | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record |
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1956 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1960 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1964 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1968 | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew |
| 1972 | Group stage | 5th | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 1976 | Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default | Qualified by default |
| 1980 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6 | Qualified as hosts | Qualified as hosts | Qualified as hosts | Qualified as hosts | Qualified as hosts | Qualified as hosts |
| 1984 | Third place | 3rd | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | Qualified as defending champions | Qualified as defending champions | Qualified as defending champions | Qualified as defending champions | Qualified as defending champions | Qualified as defending champions |
| 1988 | Group stage | 7th | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 1992 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 1996 | Fourth place | 4th | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 5 |
| 2000 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| 2004 | Group stage | 10th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| 2007 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 2011 | Group stage | 14th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 2015 | Group stage | 15th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
| 2019 | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 10 |
| 2023 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 13 |
| 2027 | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Total | Best: Champions | 11/19 | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 47 | 51 | 66 | 32 | 17 | 17 | 139 | 63 |

## Head-to-head record

| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 000.00 |
| Bahrain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
| China | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 020.00 |
| Indonesia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Iran | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | +0 | 025.00 |
| Iraq | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Japan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Jordan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Khmer Republic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 000.00 |
| Malaysia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 100.00 |
| Oman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Qatar | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 066.67 |
| Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 000.00 |
| South Korea | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 050.00 |
| Syria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 050.00 |
| Thailand | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | +0 | 025.00 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Total | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 035.71 |

## 1972 edition in Thailand
### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| South Korea | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 2 |
| Khmer Republic | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 2 |
| Kuwait | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 2 |

## 1976 edition in Iran
### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Kuwait | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 4 |
| China | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 |
| Malaysia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 |

### Final
## 1980 edition in Kuwait
### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| South Korea | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 7 |
| Kuwait | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 5 |
| Malaysia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Qatar | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 3 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 1 |

### Final
## 1984 edition in Singapore
### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Saudi Arabia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| Kuwait | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 |
| Qatar | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Syria | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 |
| South Korea | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 |

### Third place play-off
## 1988 edition in Qatar
### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Saudi Arabia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| China | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 |
| Syria | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 4 |
| Kuwait | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 |
| Bahrain | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 |

## 1996 edition in the UAE
### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| United Arab Emirates | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 |
| Kuwait | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
| South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 1 |

### Third place play-off
## 2000 edition in Lebanon
### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| China | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 |
| Kuwait | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5 |
| South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 1 |

### Quarter-finals
## 2004 edition in China
### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 7 |
| Jordan | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 5 |
| Kuwait | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 |
| United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 |

## 2011 edition in Qatar
### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Uzbekistan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 |
| Qatar | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 |
| China | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Kuwait | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
| 8 January 2011 |
| Kuwait | 0–2 | China |
| 12 January 2011 |
| Uzbekistan | 2–1 | Kuwait |
| 16 January 2011 |
| Qatar | 3–0 | Kuwait |

## 2015 edition in Australia
### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Oman | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 3 | |
| 4 | Kuwait | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 | |
| 9 January 2015 |
| Australia | 4–1 | Kuwait | AAMI Park, Melbourne |
| 13 January 2015 |
| Kuwait | 0–1 | South Korea | Canberra Stadium, Canberra |
| 17 January 2015 |
| Oman | 1–0 | Kuwait | Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle |