# Football at the 2018 Asian Games – Men's tournament

The men's football tournament at the 2018 Asian Games was held from 10 August to 1 September 2018. It was the 17th edition of the men's tournament. In this tournament, 25 teams played in the men's competition. South Korea were the gold medal holders when they won the tournament in 2014. They managed to retain their title.

## Competition schedule

The match schedule of the men's tournament was unveiled on 15 February 2018.
| G | Group stage | 1⁄8 | Round of 16 | 1⁄4 | Quarter-finals | 1⁄2 | Semi-finals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Gold medal match |
| Fri 10 | Sat 11 | Sun 12 | Mon 13 | Tue 14 | Wed 15 | Thu 16 | Fri 17 | Sat 18 | Sun 19 | Mon 20 | Tue 21 | Wed 22 | Thu 23 | Fri 24 | Sat 25 | Sun 26 | Mon 27 | Tue 28 | Wed 29 | Thu 30 | Thu 30 | Fri 31 | Sat 1 | Sat 1 |
| G | | G | | G | G | G | G | | G | G | | | 1⁄8 | 1⁄8 | | | 1⁄4 | | 1⁄2 | | | | B | F |

## Venues

The tournament was held in four venues across four cities.
| Soreang | Cibinong | Bekasi | Cikarang |
| Jalak Harupat | Pakansari | Patriot Chandrabhaga | Wibawa Mukti |
| Capacity: 27,000 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 28,778 |
| CikarangSoreangBekasiCibinong ||||

## Squads

Each nation must submit a squad of 20 players, 17 of whom must be born on or after 1 January 1995, and three of whom can be older dispensation players.

## Draw

The draw for the tournament was held on 5 July 2018 with initially 24 teams involved. The teams were seeded into four pots based on their performances in the previous Asian Games in 2014. The hosts Indonesia were automatically assigned into position A1.
However, the initial draw result was scratched because the UAE and Palestine were omitted, so the draw result had to be reconfirmed on 25 July 2018, and the ceremony reopened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 3:00 p.m. local time (7:00 a.m. GMT). Palestine were added to Group A and the UAE were added to Group E.
Iraq, which were initially placed in Group C, later withdrew from the tournament. To re-balance the groups so that every group has at least four teams, another re-draw was held on 3 August 2018 to determine which of Palestine or UAE would be moved to Group C to replace Iraq. The UAE were drawn.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | Pot 5 (additional draw) |
| Indonesia (hosts) South Korea North Korea Iraq (withdrew) Thailand Japan | Saudi Arabia Uzbekistan Hong Kong Vietnam China Kyrgyzstan | Malaysia Bangladesh Iran Pakistan Laos Timor-Leste | Nepal Qatar Bahrain Syria Chinese Taipei Myanmar | United Arab Emirates Palestine |

## Group stage

The top two teams in each group, and the four third-placed teams among six groups advance to the round of 16.
All times are local, WIB (UTC+7).

### Tiebreakers

Teams in a group are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.
* Highest number of points obtained in all group matches;
* Highest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
* Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
* Highest number of goals scored from all group matches between the teams concerned;
* If two or more teams have equal ranking with the criteria so far, reapply the criteria above only for them. If this re-application gives no more ranking, apply the following criteria.
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Highest number of goals scored in all group matches;
* Kicks from the penalty mark only if two (2) teams are involved and they are both on the field of play.
* Fewer points of yellow/red cards in all group matches (only one of these deductions shall be applied to a player in a single match): First yellow card: 1 point;Indirect red card (second yellow card): 3 points;Direct red card: 3 points;Yellow card followed by direct red card: 4 points;
* Drawing of lots
Third-placed teams from the three groups are ranked according to the following criteria, after the result against the fifth-placed team of group A are excluded in order to rank them with the same numbers of matches.
* Highest number of points obtained in all group matches;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Highest number of goals scored in all group matches;
* Fewer points of yellow/red cards in all group matches (only one of these deductions shall be applied to a player in a single match): First yellow card: 1 point;Indirect red card (second yellow card): 3 points;Direct red card: 3 points;Yellow card followed by direct red card: 4 points;
* Drawing of lots

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Indonesia (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Palestine | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | Laos | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 | |
| 5 | Chinese Taipei | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 1 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Bangladesh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Qatar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 1 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | China | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Syria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | East Timor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | −12 | 0 | |
| 5 | Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew, replaced by UAE |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vietnam | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Pakistan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 3 | |
| 4 | Nepal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Malaysia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Bahrain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | Kyrgyzstan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 | |
| 5 | United Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Redrawn to Group C |
* 1 2 Head-to-head result: Malaysia 2–1 South Korea.

### Group F

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | Myanmar | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |

### Ranking of third-placed teams

In order to ensure equality when comparing the third-placed team of all groups, the result of the match against the 5th-placed team in Group A was ignored due to the other groups having only four teams.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | A | Hong Kong | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | F | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | E | Bahrain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | C | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 5 | D | Pakistan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 3 | |
| 6 | B | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |

## Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary, except for the third place match where penalty shoot-out (no extra time) would be used to decide the winner if necessary.

### Bracket

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| 23 August – Bekasi | 23 August – Bekasi | | | | | | |
| Palestine | 0 | | | | | | |
| Palestine | 0 | 27 August – Bekasi | 27 August – Bekasi | | | | | |
| Syria | 1 | 27 August – Bekasi | 27 August – Bekasi | | | | |
| Syria | 1 | Syria | 0 | | | | |
| 23 August – Bekasi | 23 August – Bekasi | | Syria | 0 | | | | |
| 23 August – Bekasi | 23 August – Bekasi | Vietnam (a.e.t.) | 1 | | | | |
| Vietnam | 1 | Vietnam (a.e.t.) | 1 | | | | |
| Vietnam | 1 | | | | 29 August – Cibinong | 29 August – Cibinong | | |
| Bahrain | 0 | | | | 29 August – Cibinong | 29 August – Cibinong | |
| Bahrain | 0 | | | | Vietnam | 1 | |
| 23 August – Cikarang | 23 August – Cikarang | | | | | Vietnam | 1 | |
| 23 August – Cikarang | 23 August – Cikarang | | | | South Korea | 3 | |
| Uzbekistan | 3 | | | | South Korea | 3 | |
| Uzbekistan | 3 | 27 August – Bekasi | 27 August – Bekasi | | | | | |
| Hong Kong | 0 | 27 August – Bekasi | 27 August – Bekasi | | | | |
| Hong Kong | 0 | Uzbekistan | 3 | | | | |
| 23 August – Cikarang | 23 August – Cikarang | | Uzbekistan | 3 | | | | |
| 23 August – Cikarang | 23 August – Cikarang | South Korea (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | | |
| Iran | 0 | South Korea (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | | |
| Iran | 0 | | | | | | | 1 September – Cibinong | 1 September – Cibinong |
| South Korea | 2 | | | | | | | 1 September – Cibinong | 1 September – Cibinong |
| South Korea | 2 | | | | | | | South Korea (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| 24 August – Bekasi | 24 August – Bekasi | | | | | | | | South Korea (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| 24 August – Bekasi | 24 August – Bekasi | | | | | | | Japan | 1 |
| China | 3 | | | | | | | Japan | 1 |
| China | 3 | 27 August – Cibinong | 27 August – Cibinong | | | | | | |
| Saudi Arabia | 4 | 27 August – Cibinong | 27 August – Cibinong | | | | | | |
| Saudi Arabia | 4 | Saudi Arabia | 1 | | | | | | |
| 24 August – Bekasi | 24 August – Bekasi | | Saudi Arabia | 1 | | | | | | |
| 24 August – Bekasi | 24 August – Bekasi | Japan | 2 | | | | | | |
| Malaysia | 0 | Japan | 2 | | | | | | |
| Malaysia | 0 | | | | 29 August – Cibinong | 29 August – Cibinong | | | | |
| Japan | 1 | | | | 29 August – Cibinong | 29 August – Cibinong | | | |
| Japan | 1 | | | | Japan | 1 | | | |
| 24 August – Cikarang | 24 August – Cikarang | | | | | Japan | 1 | | | |
| 24 August – Cikarang | 24 August – Cikarang | | | | United Arab Emirates | 0 | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Indonesia | 2 (3) | | | | United Arab Emirates | 0 | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Indonesia | 2 (3) | 27 August – Cibinong | 27 August – Cibinong | | | | | 1 September – Cibinong | 1 September – Cibinong |
| United Arab Emirates (p) | 2 (4) | 27 August – Cibinong | 27 August – Cibinong | | | | | 1 September – Cibinong | 1 September – Cibinong |
| United Arab Emirates (p) | 2 (4) | United Arab Emirates (p) | 1 (5) | | | | | Vietnam | 1 (3) |
| 24 August – Cikarang | 24 August – Cikarang | | United Arab Emirates (p) | 1 (5) | | | | | Vietnam | 1 (3) |
| 24 August – Cikarang | 24 August – Cikarang | North Korea | 1 (3) | | | | | United Arab Emirates (p) | 1 (4) |
| Bangladesh | 1 | North Korea | 1 (3) | | | | | United Arab Emirates (p) | 1 (4) |
| North Korea | 3 | | | | | | | | |

### Gold medal match
## Statistics
### Goalscorers

There were 165 goals scored in 56 matches, for an average of 2.95 goals per match.
9 goals
* Hwang Ui-jo (KOR)
5 goals
* Ikromjon Alibaev (UZB)
4 goals
* Wei Shihao (CHN)
* Alberto Gonçalves (INA)
* Stefano Lilipaly (INA)
* Yuto Iwasaki (JPN)
* Lee Seung-woo (KOR)
* Safawi Rasid (MAS)
* Kim Yu-song (PRK)
* Zaid Al-Ameri (UAE)
* Zabikhillo Urinboev (UZB)
3 goals
* Yao Junsheng (CHN)
* Tan Chun Lok (HKG)
* Ayase Ueda (JPN)
* Hwang Hee-chan (KOR)
* Haroune Camara (KSA)
* Abdulhadi Shalha (SYR)
2 goals
* Mohammed Al-Hardan (BHR)
* Gao Zhunyi (CHN)
* Zhang Yuning (CHN)
* Jordi Tarrés (HKG)
* Irfan Jaya (INA)
* Ernist Batyrkanov (KGZ)
* Abdulrahman Gharib (KSA)
* Supachai Jaided (THA)
* Rufino Gama (TLS)
* Dostonbek Khamdamov (UZB)
* Javokhir Sidikov (UZB)
* Jaloliddin Masharipov (UZB)
* Nguyễn Công Phượng (VIE)
* Nguyễn Quang Hải (VIE)
* Nguyễn Văn Quyết (VIE)
1 goal
* Jamal Bhuyan (BAN)
* Mahbubur Rahman Sufil (BAN)
* Saad Uddin (BAN)
* Hamad Al-Shamsan (BHR)
* Mohamed Jasim Marhoon (BHR)
* Ahmed Saleh Sanad (BHR)
* Chen Binbin (CHN)
* Huang Zichang (CHN)
* Zhang Yuan (CHN)
* Cheng Chin Lung (HKG)
* Lau Hok Ming (HKG)
* Lam Ka Wai (HKG)
* Ricky Fajrin (INA)
* Muhammad Hargianto (INA)
* Hanif Sjahbandi (INA)
* Aref Aghasi (IRI)
* Mehdi Ghaedi (IRI)
* Amir Roostaei (IRI)
* Odiljon Abdurakhmanov (KGZ)
* Mutib Al-Banaqi (KSA)
* Saad Al-Selouli (KSA)
* Reo Hatate (JPN)
* Daizen Maeda (JPN)
* Kaoru Mitoma (JPN)
* Chansamone Phommalivong (LAO)
* Phoutthasay Khochalern (LAO)
* Phithack Kongmathilath (LAO)
* Tiny Bounmalay (LAO)
* Akhyar Rashid (MAS)
* Syafiq Ahmad (MAS)
* Syahmi Safari (MAS)
* Htet Phyo Wai (MYA)
* Lwin Moe Aung (MYA)
* Maung Maung Lwin (MYA)
* Muhammad Bilal (PAK)
* Saddam Hussain (PAK)
* Abdelatif Bahdari (PLE)
* Mahmoud Yousef (PLE)
* Mohamed Darwish (PLE)
* Oday Dabbagh (PLE)
* Shehab Qumbor (PLE)
* Han Yong-thae (PRK)
* Jang Kuk-chol (PRK)
* Kang Kuk-chol (PRK)
* Kim Yong-il (PRK)
* Hazem Shehata (QAT)
* Kim Jin-ya (KOR)
* Na Sang-ho (KOR)
* Son Heung-min (KOR)
* Abd Al-Rahman Barakat (SYR)
* Ahmed Ashkar (SYR)
* Kamel Koaeh (SYR)
* Zakria Hannan (SYR)
* Silveiro Garcia (TLS)
* Ahmed Al-Attas (UAE)
* Ali Al-Yahyaee (UAE)
* Mohammed Khalvan (UAE)
* Shahin Suroor (UAE)
* Salem Sultan (UAE)
* Bobur Abdikholikov (UZB)
* Nguyễn Anh Đức (VIE)
* Nguyễn Văn Toàn (VIE)
* Phan Văn Đức (VIE)
* Trần Minh Vương (VIE)
1 own goal
* Yugo Tatsuta (JPN) (against Saudi Arabia)
* Lathasay Lounlasy (LAO) (against Hong Kong)
* Shahbaz Younas (PAK) (against Nepal)

### Final standing

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. Note: In order to ensure equality, for teams in five-team groups, their match against the fifth-placed teams are excluded when considering the ranking.
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| | South Korea | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 7 | +12 | 18 |
| | Japan | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 15 |
| | United Arab Emirates | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Vietnam | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 16 |
| Eliminated in the Quarter-finals ||||||||||
| 5 | Uzbekistan | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 4 | +12 | 12 |
| 6 | Syria | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 9 |
| 7 | North Korea | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 8 |
| 8 | Saudi Arabia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| Eliminated in the Round of 16 ||||||||||
| 9 | China | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 9 |
| 10 | Indonesia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 10 |
| 11 | Palestine | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 |
| 12 | Malaysia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 |
| 13 | Iran | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | –1 | 4 |
| 14 | Hong Kong | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 7 |
| 15 | Bangladesh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | –4 | 4 |
| 16 | Bahrain | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | –6 | 4 |
| Third place in the group stage ||||||||||
| 17 | Pakistan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 3 |
| 18 | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 |
| Fourth place in the group stage ||||||||||
| 19 | Myanmar | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 |
| 20 | Kyrgyzstan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 |
| 21 | Qatar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 1 |
| 22 | Nepal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
| 23 | Laos | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 |
| 24 | East Timor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | −12 | 0 |
| Fifth place in the group stage ||||||||||
| 25 | Chinese Taipei | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 1 |