The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

, a quadrennial international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

tournament organised by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly ...

(AFC). The finals were held in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

between 4 and 21 December 1996.

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

defeated hosts

in the final match in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

. As the runners-up, the United Arab Emirates represented the AFC in the

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first Confederations Cup to be organised by FIFA. The tournament had previously been played in 1992 and 1995 as the King Fahd Cup. This edition of the tournament was hosted by Saudi Arabia, as with the previ ...

as the winners Saudi Arabia had qualified automatically as host.

Qualification

33 teams participated in a preliminary tournament. It was divided into 10 groups and the first-placed team of each group thus qualified. The qualifying teams were: Notes: :

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

² ''Italic'' indicates host

Squads

Tournament summary

The tournament began with host United Arab Emirates took up against South Korea in group A, where the Emiratis played in a 1–1 draw. Subsequently, Kuwait was surprisingly held draw by Indonesia, even being taken lead by the Indonesians. However, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and South Korea eventually established its position, with South Korea finished in third place due to losing to Kuwait and inferior by goal differences and qualified only as one of two best third-placed team, while the host comfortably seized first place, leaving Indonesia in bottom after two consecutive defeats to South Korea and the UAE. Group B easily saw Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq took three leading places in their group, with both teams managed to beat Thailand, which finished bottom with three defeats, and also each three of them suffered one defeat one to another. Iraq only finished third due to inferior goal difference, but qualified as the best third-place finisher. Meanwhile, group C was more entertaining, with both three last finishers grabbed one win each only. Debutant Uzbekistan, on its just first ever competitive participation of a major tournament and was regarded low, stunned entire of Asia by beating China with two late goals to gain three points in the team's just first competitive match. Defending champions Japan however emerged as the only team to collect all three victories, while China recovered following the defeat to beat Syria. The Syrians grabbed its only win, a 2–1 win over Uzbekistan, but the team's poor performance, with two defeats to Japan and China, cost the team from reaching the quarter-finals. Uzbekistan finished last despite the win over China, and was eliminated as well. The quarter-finals saw entire of East Asia slumped out. Defending champions Japan was crushed down by Kuwait, China lost after a seven-goal thriller with Saudi Arabia, while South Korea suffered a denting 2–6 loss to Iran, with Iran scored five goals in the second half. The host UAE continued its quest to win the trophy with a successful 1–0 win over Iraq thanked for the golden goal of

Abdulrahman Ibrahim Abdulrahman Ibrahim (born 9 November 1974) is a former Emirati footballer. He played as center-back and was considered one of the best defenders in the UAE League. He was one of the favourite defenders to be selected for the different U.A.E. nat ...

. The semi-finals became a West Asian affair and rematches of group A and B: Saudi Arabia took a successful revenge on Iran following the group stage, beating the Iranians on penalty, while the UAE killed Kuwaiti dream for the second time with another 1–0 win to set up final with Saudi Arabia. Iran eventually took third place after beating Kuwait on penalty, the match ended 1–1 draw. The final between the UAE and Saudi Arabia happened to be boring than expected. The two teams played defensively and lacking enthusiastic attacks in front of 60,000 spectators. Eventually, penalty had to be brought out, where the UAE missed two while Saudi Arabia only missed one, thus Saudi Arabia was crowned for its third trophy in the country's fourth consecutive Asian Cup final. Thanked for the win, Saudi Arabia gained automatic berth to qualify for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup held in Lebanon.

Venues

First round

All times are UAE time (

UTC+4 UTC+04:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +04:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+04:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Baku, ...

)

Group A

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group C

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Third-placed qualifiers

At the end of the first stage, a comparison was made between the third placed teams of each group. The two best third-placed teams advanced to the quarter-finals.

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

(best third-place) and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

(second best third-place) qualified for the quarter-finals.

Knockout stage

All times are UAE time (

)

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Third place play-off

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

With eight goals, Iran's

Ali Daei Ali Daei ( fa, ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian football manager and former player. A striker, he was the captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006 and played in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich ...

is the top scorer of the tournament. In total, 80 goals were scored by 47 different players, with one of them credited as an own goal. 8 goals *

6 goals * Jasem Al-Huwaidi 4 goals *

Fahad Al-Mehallel Fahad Al Mehalel ( ar, فهد المهلل, born November 11, 1970) is a retired Saudi Arabian football striker. He played at a club level for Al-Shabab and Al-Nassr. For the national team, he played at the World Cups in 1994 and 1998 FIFA Wor ...

3 goals * Hwang Sun-Hong *

Hassan Saeed Hassan Saeed ( Dhivehi: ޑރ. ޙަސަން ސަޢީދު) was the former Attorney General of the Republic of Maldives, a role in which he served from November 11, 2003 to August 5, 2007. He is the current managing partner of Chambers Inn and is ...

2 goals * Zhang Enhua *

Widodo Putro Widodo Cahyono Putro (born 8 November 1970 in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia) is a retired Indonesian football player and current manager of Bhayangkara, who gained fame for scoring a goal with a bicycle kick in a match against Kuwait in the ...

* Ronny Wabia * Khodadad Azizi * Karim Bagheri *

Haidar Mahmoud Haidar Mahmoud Majid ( ar, حيدر محمود مجيد; born 19 September 1973) is an Iraqi football coach and former player. As a player, Mahmoud played as a right-back, representing Iraq in the 1996 and 2000 AFC Asian Cup. He also played club ...

* Laith Hussein *

Masakiyo Maezono is a former Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team. Club career Maezono was born in Satsumasendai on 29 October 1973. After graduating from high school, he joined Yokohama Flügels in 1992. He debuted in June 1993 a ...

Kim Do-Hoon Kim Do-hoon (; born 21 July 1970) is a South Korean professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Singaporean club Lion City Sailors before his 11 August 2022 resignation. Playing career Kim during ...

* Sami Al-Jaber * Khalid Al-Temawi * Yousuf Al-Thunayan *

Nader Joukhadar Nader Abdulkarim Joukhadar ( ar, نَادِر جُوخَدَار; 19 October 1977 – 6 February 2023) was a Syrian football coach and player. He played as a forward for Syria in the 1996 Asian Cup. Joukhadar died in Jableh, alongside his so ...

Adnan Al-Talyani Adnan Khamis Mohammed Obaid Al-Talyani Al Suwaidi ( ar, عدنان خميس محمد عبيد الطلياني السويدي) (born 30 October 1964) is a retired footballer from the United Arab Emirates who played as a forward in the UAE Foo ...

1 goal * Gao Feng *

Ma Mingyu Ma Mingyu (; born 4 February 1970, in Chongqing, Sichuan) is a former Chinese International football player. He represented Sichuan Quanxing throughout the majority of his career, having several spells with them. He also represented Guangdong ...

* Li Bing *

Peng Weiguo Peng Weiguo (; born October 3, 1971 in Guangzhou) is a Chinese football coach and a former international player. As a player he represented Guangzhou Apollo, Chongqing Longxin and Shenzhen Pingan while internationally he represented the Chi ...

* Mehrdad Minavand * Naeim Saadavi *

Hussam Fawzi Hussam Fawzi Naji (born 3 September 1974) is an Iraqi football manager and former player who played as a forward. He was the captain of the Iraq national team. Playing career Hussam was a leader of the Iraqi strikeforce capable of moments of ...

Khalid Mohammed Sabbar Khalid Mohammed Sabbar is an Iraqi football defender who played for Iraq in the 1996 Asian Cup. Professionally he played for Al Zawra, Al Shorta, Arbil FC, Kirkuk FC Kirkuk Sports Club ( ar, نادي كركوك) is a football club based i ...

Kazuyoshi Miura , often known simply as Kazu (nicknamed "King Kazu"), is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC. He played for the Japan national team from 199 ...

* Hiroshi Nanami * Naoki Soma *

Takuya Takagi is a Japanese football manager and former player. He played for Japan national team. He was a physical forward and the Japanese media and fans dubbed him as the ''Cannon of Asia''. Club career Takagi was educated at and played for Kunimi High ...

* Ko Jeong-Woon * Shin Tae-Yong *

Bashar Abdullah Bashar Abdullah Abdul Aziz ( ar, بشار عبد الله سالم عبد العزيز; born 12 October 1977) is a Kuwaiti former professional footballer. He was a part of the mini revival of Kuwaiti football between 1996 and 1998. His part inc ...

Badr Haji Badr Haji Al-Halabeej (born 19 December 1967) is a Kuwaiti former footballer who participated in the 1996 and 2000 AFC Asian Cup. Honours Personal * Best Arab player in 1994 * Best player of the 1998 Arab Nations Cup in Qatar * Best player of th ...

Hani Al Saqer Hani Al Saqer is a Kuwaiti football forward who played for Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Ea ...

* Khalid Al-Muwallid * Ali Cheikh Dib * Dusit Chalermsan *

Kiatisuk Senamuang Kiatisuk Senamuang ( th, เกียรติศักดิ์ เสนาเมือง; born 11 August 1973) is a Thai football manager and former footballer (played between 1989 and October 2007) who is manager of V.League 1 club Hoàn ...

* Saad Bakheet Mubarak * Khamis Saad * Sergey Lebedev *

Oleg Shatskikh Oleg Aleksandrovich Shatskikh (russian: Олег Александрович Шацких; born 15 October 1974), is an Uzbek former professional footballer who played as a forward in the Uzbek League. His brother Maksim Shatskikh is also a form ...

Igor Shkvyrin Igor Shkvyrin (russian: Игорь Анатольевич Шквырин, ; born 29 April 1963 in Tashkent) is a retired Uzbekistani professional footballer who played for several clubs in Europe and Asia and the Uzbekistan national football tea ...

1 own goal * Hassan Abbas (for Japan)

Awards

Best player * Khodadad Azizi Top scorer *

Best goalkeeper *

Mohamed Al-Deayea Mohamed Abdullaziz Al-Deayea ( ar, محمد عبد العزيز الدعيع; born 2 August 1972) is a Saudi Arabian former professional footballer who played as a football goalkeeper. He participated in four FIFA World Cups for the Saudi Arab ...

Fair play award * Team of the Tournament

Final standings

References

External links

RSSSF Details
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996 AFC Asian Cup AFC Asian Cup tournaments Afc Asian Cup, 1996

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

International association football competitions hosted by the United Arab Emirates December 1996 sports events in Asia