AFC Asian Cup 2019 has come to its final stages as top eight teams will fight for the championship in the quarter-finals, starting from 24th January. For the first time, 24 nations participated in the pan-Asian competition instead of the usual sixteen.
As such two additional groups have been added and the two best teams from each group and the four best third-placed teams progressed to the knockout stage. The round of 16 was played from 20th January to 22nd January and eight teams reach the quarter-finals stage by winning their respective games. The quarter-final matches between these eight teams will be started from tomorrow i.e 24th January.
Top eight teams who have made it through the quarter-finals are:
- Australia
- United Arab Emirates
- South Korea
- Vietnam
- Japan
- China
- Iran
- Qatar
AFC Asian Cup 2019 released the Quarter-finals lineup:
Quarter-finals line-up confirmed. Who will go on to be the #AsianCup2019 champions? pic.twitter.com/PDdn8s3Zwt
— #AsianCup2019 (@afcasiancup) January 23, 2019
Quarter-Final lineups:
- Vietnam vs Japan- Match 45 [06:30 pm IST on January 24]
- China vs Iran- Match 46 [09:30 pm IST on January 24]
- South Korea vs Qatar- Match 47 [06:30 pm IST on January 25]
- United Arab Emirates vs Australia- Match 48 [09:30 pm IST on January 25]
1. Vietnam vs Japan- Match 45 [06:30 pm IST on January 24]
The first match of the round of 16 was played between the football teams of Vietnam and Jordan. The Group-B toppers, Jordan failed to reach the quarter-finals as they lost against the Group-D’s third-placed Vietnam. Jordan took the lead by scoring the first goal which was soon equalised by Vietnam and the match was stretched to the penalties which were later won by Vietnam. While Group-F’s toppers Japan secured their place in the quarter-finals by beating Group-E’s second-placed Saudi Arabia by scoring the only goal of the match.
2. China vs Iran- Match 46 [09:30 pm IST on January 24]
On 20th January, China football team beat Thailand by the 2-1 score. Thailand scored the first goal of the match but couldn’t stop China from qualifying the quarter-finals as China scored two goals in a duration of four minutes whereas Iran imposed an easy win over Oman by 2-0 to enter the quarter-finals.
3. South Korea vs Qatar- Match 47 [06:30 pm IST on January 25]
The cup favourites South Korea played their round of 16 match against Bahrain which was forced to the extra time as the scoreboard was even at the end of 90 minutes, with both teams scoring a goal. The match was sealed by South Korea as they scored a game-decider in the first extra period and maintained their lead through the end. On the other side, Qatar won their game against Iraq by 1-0 and will take on South Korea in the quarter-finals.
4. United Arab Emirates vs Australia- Match 48 [09:30 pm IST on January 25]
The hosts UAE beat Kyrgyzstan in the round of 16 to progress for quarter-finals where they have been matched up with the defending champions Australia. UAE received a good competition by Kyrgyzstan on 21st January as the scoreboard reads a 3-2 score whereas the defending champions, Australia were seen struggling in front of Uzbekistan as both the teams failed to enter the scoresheet till the normal time and the match was forced to the penalties which was won by Australia by 4-2.
