Not only is the Africa Cup coming up at the beginning of January, the Asian Cup will also be played – and that means that some Bundesliga clubs will have to do without their stars. All information about the Asian Cup at a glance
What is the Asian Cup?
The Asian Cup is the Asian championship in soccer. Similar to the European Championship on the European continent, the best team from the Asian continent is sought every four years.
Where and when does the Asian Cup take place?
2024, the Asian Cup will open on January 12 at 5 p.m. between Qatar, winner in 2019, and Lebanon. The final will take place four weeks later on February 10 (4pm). The 18th edition of the tournament was originally scheduled to be held in China in the summer of 2023, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the country passed the baton to Qatar, which will host the tournament for the third time after 1988 and 2011.
What is the format of the Asian Cup?
As in 2019, a total of 24 teams will take part in the 2024 tournament. The group stage will consist of six groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each group and four of the six best third-placed teams progressing to the round of 16. The four best third-placed teams in the group play against the first-placed teams in groups A-D in the round of 16. The team finishing first in Group E will play against the team finishing second in Group D and the team finishing first in Group F will play against the team finishing second in Group E. The runners-up from groups A and C as well as B and F will play each other. There will be a total of 51 matches in Qatar – as in 2019, there will be no match for third place.
What is the group classification?
The draw has produced the following groups:
Group A: China, Qatar, Lebanon, Tajikistan
Group B: Australia, India, Syria, Uzbekistan
Group C: Hong Kong, Iran, Palestine, United Arab Emirates
Group D: Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Vietnam
Group E: Bahrain, Jordan, Malaysia, South Korea
Group F: Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Thailand
What are the special features of the 2024 Asian Cup
The biggest special feature is certainly the move from China to Qatar and thus to the current defending champions. The host country of the 2022 World Cup celebrated the Asian Cup for the first time in 2019. The record title holder is Japan with four victories. Click here for an overview of all winners since 1956.
The first-time participation of Tajikistan is certainly also special. The Central Asian state only joined FIFA in 1994 and has never qualified for a World Cup or Asian Championship. Now, Tajikistan beat Kyrgyzstan, Singapore and Myanmar in the group stage of the qualifiers to win the group
Who broadcasts the Asian Cup?
The streaming portal “Sportdigital Football” is broadcasting the continental championship exclusively and showing all matches on its platform. The streaming provider is also available via the DAZN platform
Which Bundesliga players could be missing from their clubs?
The Bundesliga starts after the winter break with the 17th matchday on January 12, just like the Asian Cup. If a player makes it to the final, he risks missing up to and including matchday 21, i.e. a total of five games. Japan’s squad could include a number of players from the Bundesliga, including Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Ko Itakura (Gladbach), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Masaya Okugawa (Augsburg), Hiroki Ito and Genki Haraguchi (both Stuttgart).
VfB could even be hit again if South Korea coach Jürgen Klinsmann calls up Woo-Yeong Jeong. Mainz’s Jae-Sung Lee and Bayern star Min-Jae Kim are also likely to be part of Klinsmann’s squad
