Group C of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup will take place from 14 to 23 January 2024.[1] The group consists of Iran, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Palestine.[2]
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Zone | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2023[nb 1] | December 2023 | ||||||||
| C1 |  Iran | CAFA | Second round Group C winners | 15 June 2021 | 15th | 2019 | Winners (1968, 1972, 1976) | 24 | 21 |
| C2 |  United Arab Emirates | WAFF | Second round Group G winners | 15 June 2021 | 11th | 2019 | Runners-up (1996) | 72 | 64 |
| C3 |  Hong Kong | EAFF | Third round Group D runners-up | 14 June 2022 | 4th | 1968 | Third place (1956) | 147 | 150 |
| C4 |  Palestine | WAFF | Third round Group B winners | 14 June 2022 | 3rd | 2019 | Group stage (2015, 2019) | 93 | 99 |
Notes
- ↑ The rankings of April 2023 were used for seeding for the final draw.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 | |
| 3 | Hong Kong |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 | Possible knockout stage |
| 4 | Palestine |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Matches
United Arab Emirates vs Hong Kong
This will be the first time the United Arab Emirates to meet Hong Kong in the group stages of an AFC Asian Cup. They have met three times in the past, a draw in 2000 and the Emiratis won 4–0 twice as part of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification.
In the 30th minute, Sultan Adil shot his ball to the hand of Oliver Gerbig, and the referee decided to give a penalty after consulting VAR due to Gerbig's hand movement was abnormal. Adil then converted the penalty himself to give the United Arab Emirates the lead. Early in the second half, Everton Camargo delivered a brilliant pass from the right flank to Chan Siu Kwan, who then scored the goal to equalise the game in 49th minute, which turned out to be the historic 1,000th goal in the Asian Cup history. However, Zayed Sultan soon reclaimed the lead for the Emiratis after two earlier shots from Abdullah Ramadan and Adil were denied by Yapp Hung Fai, when Sultan was quick to seize the opportunity over the ball's deflection to his position. At the first minute of extra time in the second half, Yahya Al-Ghassani was fouled by Shinichi Chan when he was dribbling in Hong Kong's penalty area, which would later become a controversial penalty after another VAR consultation, during which Al-Ghassani would again successfully convert the penalty in the sixth minute of extra time. Minutes later, Michael Udebuluzor scored the second goal for Hong Kong, but was ruled out by VAR again, as the United Arab Emirates triumphed over Hong Kong 3–1.
| United Arab Emirates | 3–1 | Hong Kong |
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Report |
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          United Arab Emirates
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     Hong Kong
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Iran vs Palestine
Iran and Palestine had faced each other six times, with Iran undefeated in all matches; their most recent meeting was a friendly in 2018, which ended with a 1–1 draw.
Iran got a dream start after a fast attack saw Mehdi Ghayedi seized the opportunity from a throw-in as he passed to Saman Ghoddos, who later sent to Karim Ansarifard as he struck first in just two minutes of the match. Iran doubled the lead ten minutes later after Ghoddos delivered a set-piece and Shojae Khalilzadeh quickly approached to take the shot into the net. In 38th minute, a failed clearance from Mohammed Rashid let the ball intercepted by Ansarifard then passed to Alireza Jahanbakhsh, before he later passed to Ghayedi, who struck a low shot to give Iran a three-goal lead. In the sixth minute of first half's injury time, a brilliant set-piece from Zaid Qunbar caught Saeid Ezatolahi by surprise as he headed the ball directly to his opponent Tamer Seyam, thus effectively made Seyam onside, which his header subsequently reduced the distance into two-goal margin. Iran then buried any Palestinian hope of comeback when Sadegh Moharrami pulled a phase and, receiving ball from Majid Hosseini, delivered decisive pass for Sardar Azmoun, who then struck the net after clumsy attempts by the Palestinians to clear it out in the 55th minute.
| Iran | 4–1 | Palestine |
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Report |
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   Iran
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Palestine
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Palestine vs United Arab Emirates
Palestine will meet the United Arab Emirates for the first time since 2016, when the two last met as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, which the United Arab Emirates won 2–0 at home.
| Palestine | Match 17 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
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Palestine
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United Arab Emirates
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Hong Kong vs Iran
This will be the first time since 1968 that Hong Kong and Iran will face each other in an AFC Asian Cup tournament. Iran has met Hong Kong seven times, all competitive fixtures with Hong Kong got one win and Iran got six, including their recent competitive fixture as part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification which Iran won 4–0.
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Iran vs United Arab Emirates
Iran will face the United Arab Emirates for the first time in the Asian Cup since 2015, which Iran won 1–0. Iran also won by the same scoreline against the same opponent in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification both home and away.
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Hong Kong vs Palestine
This will mark their first meeting in 23 years, as Hong Kong last met Palestine as part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, which Palestine won 1–0 in the most recent meeting.
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Discipline
Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:
- first yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −3 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −4 points;
Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Iran |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
| United Arab Emirates |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
| Hong Kong |
2 | –2 | |||||||||||
| Palestine |
6 | –6 | |||||||||||
References
- ↑ ""Match Schedule – AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023"" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ↑ "#AsianCup2023 Groups Finalised". the-AFC. Retrieved 11 May 2023.