After the 2022 World Cup, the 2024 Asian Cup will now be held in the desert state of Qatar. Sportschau.de explains the mode, names the favorites and says where the game is being played.
Where and when will the Asian Cup be held?
The 18th Asian Championship will be played a year late in the desert state of Qatar – in a total of nine stadiums. China had actually applied and won the tournament in 2023, but due to the corona pandemic, the People’s Republic had already given up the tournament, which is actually held every four years, in 2022. The tournament will take place from January 12th to February 10th in Qatar, which is hosting this tournament for the third time. The opening match between hosts Qatar and Lebanon will take place at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.
Who is taking part and in which mode is the game being played?
24 teams meet in six groups, each consisting of four teams. The respective first and second place teams in each group are qualified for the round of 16. The four best third-place teams complete the round of the last 16 teams. Then it continues in the co-system. There is no game for third place in the Asian Cup.
Six 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
Who is the favorite and which Bundesliga players are in Qatar?
Qatar is the defending champion (2019) and is likely to have a great chance of winning the cup again. But there is top-class competition: Japan, Australia, South Korea and Iran are currently the best four Asian teams in the FIFA world rankings and are also likely to have good chances.
Woo-yeong Jeong (South Korea) and Hiroki Ito (Japan) from VfB Stuttgart are in Qatar, as are Bayern Munich’s Min-jae Kim (South Korea), SC Freiburg’s Ritsu Doan (Japan), Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Ko Itakura (Japan), VfL Bochum Takuma Asano (Japan) and Mainz’ Jae-Sung Lee (South Korea). Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-Min (31) is probably the biggest star at the 2024 Asian Cup.
There are also well-known coaches in Germany: Jürgen Klinsmann coaches South Korea’s national team, and the former Mainz coach Jörn Andersen looks after the Hong Kong team.
Who is the record holder?
Japan tops the list with the most wins. The Japanese have already won four Asian championships; they celebrated their last title in 2011 – in Qatar.
