How do you qualify for the Asian Cup 2023?
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Defending champions Qatar will host the Asian Cup for the third time in their history, a year after the World Cup. Show The 2023 Asian Cup football tournament will be held in Qatar, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced after China withdrew earlier this year because of its “zero-COVID” policy. The Asian Cup is held every four years. Qatar won the tournament’s last edition, which was hosted by the United Arab Emirates in 2019. This is the third time Qatar will be hosting the tournament, having staged it in 1988 and 2011. In June 2019, China was named host for the 2023 event but they withdrew in May this year, leaving the AFC scrambling to find a new host for its flagship men’s 24-team football tournament. South Korea and Indonesia were the two other countries in the running after China’s withdrawal, but Qatar got the nod on Monday. Qatar will be hosting the 2022 World Cup, which kicks off on November 20. The World Cup, usually held in the northern hemisphere’s summer, was moved to November and December because of the extreme heat in Qatar during June and July. The Gulf country has built seven new stadiums and upgraded another around the capital Doha to host the 32-team World Cup. No dates have been announced yet for the 2023 Asian Cup by the AFC. AFC chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa hailed Qatar’s “world-class infrastructure and unrivalled hosting capabilities” and said Qatar is ready to put on the event despite the short lead time to prepare. “Given the short lead time in preparation, we know that the hard work begins immediately but with their existing world-class infrastructure and unrivalled hosting capabilities, we are confident that Qatar will stage a worthy spectacle befitting the prestige and stature of Asia’s crown jewel,” he said in a statement.
BISHKEK, 12 JUNE 2022 – Singapore’s hopes of qualifying for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup™ 2023 are over after a 1-0 defeat to Tajikistan on Saturday evening. Shervoni Mabatshoev’s strike in the second half condemned the Lions to a consecutive Group F defeat in the final round of qualifying and virtually guarantee a historic first qualification for the Tajiks. Coupled with Kyrgyz Republic’s 2-0 victory over Myanmar later the same day, it means that Singapore will not finish in the top two. Only the six group winners and five best runners-up will go through to next year’s Asian Cup. Just like in the 2-1 defeat to Kyrgyz Republic three days ago, Takayuki Nishigaya’s charges created a flurry of chances but paid the price for not putting them away.  Shah Shahiran gets a shot away, 11 June 2022 Ikhsan Fandi dragged a shot just wide from a tight angle after only two minutes, before Shah Shahiran smashed a volley at Rustam Yatimov from 20 yards in the 17th minute. Nazrul Nazari then shot straight at the goalkeeper on 32 minutes, who also parried Faris Ramli’s low drive a minute later. “The game was so close and you can see that we created a lot of chances in this game and the previous one, but we need to finish our chances and improve more,” Nishigaya said. “We have two sides (aspects) – the first is that every player has to improve their finishing and secondly, we have to attack more, collectively. We have to improve both individually and as a team.” Tajikistan, who had beaten Myanmar 4-0 in their opening match, found it harder to crack Singapore’s goal. Hassan Sunny stuck out a leg to deflect Manuchehr Dzhalilov’s effort in the fifth minute and then pulled off a miraculous point-blank stop to deny Amorbek Juraboev in the 36th minute. Centre-back Irfan Fandi also stood tall with some superb tackles and headed clearances. Christopher van Huizen made his first international start since November 2015, 11 June 2022 However, he was powerless to stop Mabatshoev’s goal in the 53rd minute as the forward appeared to get the final touch to a cross that had taken a couple of deflections on its way into the box. Even when trailing, the Lions rued missed opportunities to level. Safuwan Baharudin’s header was ruled out for offside in the 76th minute, followed by Ikhsan Fandi spurning a great chance from close range and Glenn Kweh’s powerful effort somehow blocked by a defender. Singapore lineup against Tajikistan, 11 June 2022 Nishigaya did acknowledge the 158th-ranked Lions’ efforts against two opponents that are classed higher – Kyrgyz Republic are 95th and Tajikistan are 114th. “Of course, we are very disappointed not to be able to qualify and I am so sorry for the Singapore fans,” he said. “But we hope they are proud of the boys as you can see that the players really showed good performances and their commitment. “Our players have shown that we can compete against teams that have a higher ranking than us. How we can improve is to try to continue how we what we are doing… if we are able to continue to play this way, we will be able to achieve (results against better teams). So please, believe in ourselves. Please believe in our boys and my team.” Singapore: Hassan Sunny (GK), Irfan Fandi, Hariss Harun (C), Safuwan Baharudin, Nazrul Nazari, Shah Shahiran (Amirul Adli 64’), Shahdan Sulaiman, Song Uiyoung, Christopher van Huizen (Nur Adam Abdullah 64’), Faris Ramli (Glenn Kweh 64’), Ikhsan Fandi. |
