Who is Hosting the AFC Asian Cup 2023: Who is hosting the AFC Asian Cup 2023, China or Qatar? According to various sources and online portals the AFC Asian Cup 2023 will be hosted by Qatar.
Here is why:
The AFC Competitions Committee announced in April 2016 that four countries, China, Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand, had expressed interest in hosting the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. However, Indonesia was under FIFA suspension at the time. All required documents were submitted by the deadline of March 31, 2016.
The winning bid was originally scheduled to be announced at the AFC Congress in May 2018, but the congress was postponed to October 31st. Eventually, South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand withdrew their bids for various reasons, leaving China as the designated host.
The AFC Asian Cup 2023 was originally set to take place in China, but on May 14, 2022, the AFC announced that China would not be able to host the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the exceptional circumstances it had caused.
On July 18, 2022, the AFC confirmed that Qatar had submitted its bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2023. Qatar has a history of hosting the AFC Asian Cup, having previously hosted the 1988 and 2011 editions, and they reached the quarter-finals in the latter. They are also the reigning AFC Asian champions.
In addition to hosting the AFC Asian Cup 2023, Qatar will be hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022and hosted the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup. They had also previously bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 but withdrew the bid after being selected to host the 2023 edition.
The following stadiums are likely to be selected as the host venue for AFC Asian Cup 2023, the Stadiums were originally selected for 2027
- Al Khor – Al Bayt Stadium, capacity 66,036
- Al Rayyan – Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, capacity 41,143
- Al Rayyan – Education City Stadium, capacity 41,455
- Al Wakrah – Al Janoub Stadium, capacity 40,336
- Doha – Khalifa International Stadium, capacity 40,696
- Doha – Al Thumama Stadium, capacity 40,125
- Doha – Thani bin Jassim Stadium, capacity 21,175
- Doha – Qatar University Stadium, capacity 20,600
- Lusail – Lusail Iconic Stadium, capacity 86,239
Source: Wikipedia
Teams qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 2023
The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will feature 24 nations, with qualifying to start in June 2019 and concluding three years later.
Tajikistan will be making its debut in the tournament, while Indonesia and Malaysia will be returning after missing the 2007 event.
Hong Kong, with its last appearance dating back to 1968, will also be participating after a long absence.
Here is the List of Qualified teams for the AFC Asian Cup 2023:
| Country | Appearance | Titles |
| Qatar | 11 | 1 |
| Japan | 10 | 4 |
| Syria | 10 | — |
| South Korea | 15 | 2 |
| Australia | 5 | 1 |
| Iran | 15 | 3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 11 | 3 |
| UAE | 11 | — |
| China | 13 | — |
| Iraq | 10 | 1 |
| Oman | 5 | — |
| Vietnam | 5 | — |
| Lebanon | 3 | — |
| Palestine | 3 | — |
| Uzbekistan | 8 | — |
| Thailand | 8 | — |
| India | 5 | — |
| Hong Kong | 4 | — |
| Tajikistan | — | |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2 | — |
| Bahrain | 7 | — |
| Malaysia | 4 | — |
| Jordan | 5 | — |
| Indonesia | 5 | — |
