# 2027 AFC Asian Cup

The 2027 AFC Asian Cup will be the 19th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament involves 24 national teams after the expansion in 2019. It will be held in Saudi Arabia from 7 January to 5 February 2027.
The tournament will return to its usual four-year cycle, after the 2023 edition was postponed to 2024 due to the removal of China as hosts, and high summer temperatures in Qatar.
Qatar are the two-time defending champions.

## Host selection

AFC confirmed that the following member associations expressed their interests to host 2027 Asian Cup before the 30 June 2020 deadline, and they gave their necessary letters of undertaking in November. On 17 October 2022, the AFC Executive Committee announced that the host of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup would be chosen by the AFC Congress at its next meeting on 1 February 2023 in Manama, Bahrain. However, India, one of the last two bidders, withdrew on 5 December leaving Saudi Arabia as the only remaining bidder. On 1 February, the AFC confirmed that Saudi Arabia won the bid and will host the tournament for the first time.

## Venues

8 stadiums in 3 host cities will be used to play the tournament:
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Riyadh | King Fahd Sports City Stadium | 70,200 |
| Riyadh | King Saud University Stadium | 25,000 |
| Riyadh | Kingdom Arena | 26,000 |
| Riyadh | Imam Mohammed University Stadium | 21,000 |
| Riyadh | Al-Shabab Stadium | 15,000 |
| Jeddah | King Abdullah Sports City Stadium | 63,079 |
| Jeddah | Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium | 27,000 |
| Khobar | Aramco Stadium (New) | 46,096 |

## Teams

The first two rounds of qualification will act as part of the Asian qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia, which received automatic qualification for the Asian Cup as host, is also expected to participate in the qualifiers to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Northern Mariana Islands, whose football association became the 47th full AFC member during the confederation's 30th Congress on 9 December 2020, was only eligible to enter the qualification tournament for the Asian Cup, but was ultimately excluded.

### Qualified teams

| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearances | First appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
| Saudi Arabia | Hosts | 1 February 2023 | 12th | 1984 | 2023 | Winners (1984, 1988, 1996) |
| Australia | Second round Group I winners | 26 March 2024 | 6th | 2007 | 2023 | Winners (2015) |
| Iraq | Second round Group F winners | 26 March 2024 | 11th | 1972 | 2023 | Winners (2007) |
| Iran | Second round Group E winners | 26 March 2024 | 16th | 1968 | 2023 | Winners (1968, 1972, 1976) |
| Uzbekistan | Second round Group E runners-up | 26 March 2024 | 9th | 1996 | 2023 | Fourth place (2011) |
| Qatar | Second round Group A winners | 26 March 2024 | 12th | 1980 | 2023 | Winners (2019, 2023) |
| United Arab Emirates | Second round Group H winners | 26 March 2024 | 12th | 1980 | 2023 | Runners-up (1996) |
| Japan | Second round Group B winners | 2 April 2024 | 11th | 1988 | 2023 | Winners (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011) |
| South Korea | Second round Group C winners | 6 June 2024 | 16th | 1956 | 2023 | Winners (1956, 1960) |
| Oman | Second round Group D winners | 6 June 2024 | 6th | 2004 | 2023 | Round of 16 (2019) |
| Palestine | Second round Group I runners-up | 6 June 2024 | 4th | 2015 | 2023 | Round of 16 (2023) |
| Bahrain | Second round Group H runners-up | 6 June 2024 | 8th | 1988 | 2023 | Fourth place (2004) |
| Jordan | Second round Group G winners | 6 June 2024 | 6th | 2004 | 2023 | Runners-up (2023) |
| China | Second round Group C runners-up | 11 June 2024 | 14th | 1976 | 2023 | Runners-up (1984, 2004) |
| Indonesia | Second round Group F runners-up | 11 June 2024 | 6th | 1996 | 2023 | Round of 16 (2023) |
| North Korea | Second round Group B runners-up | 11 June 2024 | 6th | 1980 | 2019 | Fourth place (1980) |
| Kuwait | Second round Group A runners-up | 11 June 2024 | 11th | 1972 | 2015 | Winners (1980) |
| Kyrgyzstan | Second round Group D runners-up | 11 June 2024 | 3rd | 2019 | 2023 | Round of 16 (2019) |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | A2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | A3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | A4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | B1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | B2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | B3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | B4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | C1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | C2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | C3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | C4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | D1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | D2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | D3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | D4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

### Group E

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | E1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | E2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | E3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | E4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

### Group F

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | F1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | F2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | F3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | F4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

### Ranking of third-placed teams

The four best third-placed teams from the six groups advanced to the knockout stage along with the six group winners and six runners-up.
| Pos | Grp | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | A | Third place Group A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | B | Third place Group B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | C | Third place Group C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | D | Third place Group D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 5 | E | Third place Group E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | F | Third place Group F | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.

### Bracket

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| January – | January – | | | | |
| | | 28 January – | 28 January – | | | |
| | | Winner Match | | | |
| January – | January – | | Winner Match | | | |
| January – | January – | Winner Match | | | |
| | | | | 1 February – | 1 February – | |
| | | | | Winner Match | |
| January – | January – | | | | Winner Match | |
| January – | January – | | | Winner Match | |
| | | 28 January – | 28 January – | | | |
| | | Winner Match | | | |
| January – | January – | | Winner Match | | | |
| January – | January – | Winner Match | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 February – | 5 February – |
| | | | | | | Winner Match 49 | |
| January – | January – | | | | | | Winner Match 49 |
| January – | January – | | | | | Winner Match 50 | |
| | | 29 January – | 29 January – | | | | |
| | | Winner Match | | | | | |
| January – | January – | | Winner Match | | | | |
| January – | January – | Winner Match | | | | | |
| | | | | 2 February – | 2 February – | | |
| | | | | Winner Match | | | |
| January – | January – | | | | Winner Match | | |
| January – | January – | | | Winner Match | |
| | | 29 January – | 29 January – | | | |
| | | Winner Match | | | |
| January – | January – | | Winner Match | | | |
| January – | January – | Winner Match | | | |
All times are local, AST (UTC+3).

### Final
## Marketing
### Sponsorship

Official Global Partners
* Neom
* Qatar Airways
* Visit Saudi
Official Global Supporters
* EFootball (Konami)
* Kelme

## Broadcasting rights

The broadcasters around the world that acquired the rights to the tournament included:
| Territory | Broadcaster(s) |
| Argentina | TVP and TyC Sports |
| Australia | Paramount+ and Network 10 |
| Baltic States | TV Start |
| Balkan | Sport Klub |
| Bangladesh | T Sports |
| Brunei | Astro SuperSport |
| Brazil | ESPN |
| Bulgaria | Diema Sport |
| Caribbean | ESPN |
| Canada | DAZN |
| China | iQiyi and Migu |
| Cambodia | Hang Meas |
| East Timor | MNC Media |
| Fiji | Mai TV |
| France | Triller TV |
| Germany | Sportdigital |
| Georgia | Slik Sports |
| Hungary | SportTV |
| Hong Kong | HOY TV |
| India | Fancode |
| Indonesia | MNC Media |
| In-flight/in-ship | Sport 24 |
| Iraq | Al-Rabia'a |
| Israel | Sport 5 |
| Italy | OneFootball |
| Japan | DAZN |
| Kazakhstan | Sport+ |
| Kyrgyzstan | KTRK |
| Laos | KJSMWorld |
| Latin America | ESPN and DSports |
| Middle East and North Africa (exc. IRN, IRQ, KSA, KUW, QAT and UAE) | beIN Sports |
| Macau | M Plus Live |
| Mongolia | Premier Sports |
| Malaysia | Astro SuperSport and RTM |
| Maldives | PSM |
| Myanmar | Canal+ |
| Nordic | C More Sport |
| New Zealand | Paramount + |
| Pacific Island | YouTube (free of the world) |
| Papua New Guinea | TV Wan |
| Philippines | MNC Media |
| Portugal | Sport TV |
| Qatar | Al Kass |
| Romania | Antena |
| South Asia | Football Sports Development Limited |
| San Marino | OneFootball |
| Saudi Arabia | Shahid and SSC |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | StarTimes |
| Singapore | MediaCorp |
| South Korea | Coupang Play |
| Spain | DAZN |
| Tajikistan | TV Varzish and TV Sports |
| Taiwan | ELTA |
| Tanzania | Azam Sports |
| Thailand | T Sports 7 |
| Turkey | D-Smart |
| Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan Sports |
| Ukraine | Sport1 |
| United Arab Emirates | AD Sports and Starzplay |
| United Kingdom | Triller TV |
| United States | Paramount + and CBS Sports |
| Uzbekistan | MTRK |
| Vietnam | K+ |