The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 December 1996. Saudi Arabia defeated hosts United Arab Emirates in the final match in Abu Dhabi. As the runners-up, the United Arab Emirates represented the AFC in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup as the winners Saudi Arabia had qualified automatically as host.

1996 AFC Asian Cup
كأس آسيا 1996
Tournament details
Host countryUnited Arab Emirates
Dates4–21 December
Teams12
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Saudi Arabia (3rd title)
Runners-up United Arab Emirates
Third place Iran
Fourth place Kuwait
Tournament statistics
Matches played26
Goals scored80 (3.08 per match)
Attendance448,000 (17,231 per match)
Top scorer(s)Iran Ali Daei (8 goals)
Best player(s)Iran Khodadad Azizi
Best goalkeeperSaudi Arabia Mohamed Al-Deayea
Fair play award Iran
1992
2000

Qualification

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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:

Country Qualified as Date qualification was secured Previous appearances in tournament1, 2
  United Arab Emirates Hosts 29 April 1993 4 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992)
  Japan 1992 AFC Asian Cup winners 8 November 1992 2 (1988, 1992)
  Saudi Arabia Qualifying round Group 9 winners 2 February 1996 3 (1984, 1988, 1992)
  China Qualifying round Group 2 winners 4 February 1996 5 (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992)
  Indonesia Qualifying round Group 4 winners 6 March 1996 0 (Debut)
  Uzbekistan Qualifying round Group 8 winners 19 June 1996 0 (Debut)
  Kuwait Qualifying round Group 10 winners 20 June 1996 5 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988)
  Iran Qualifying round Group 5 winners 21 June 1996 7 (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992)
  Thailand Qualifying round Group 3 winners 9 July 1996 2 (1972, 1992)
  Syria Qualifying round Group 7 winners 19 July 1996 3 (1980, 1984, 1988)
  South Korea Qualifying round Group 1 winners 11 August 1996 7 (1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988)
  Iraq Qualifying round Group 6 winners 13 August 1996 2 (1972, 1976)

Notes:

1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italic indicates host

Squads

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Tournament summary

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The tournament began with host United Arab Emirates against South Korea in group A, where the Emiratis played in a 1–1 draw. Subsequently, Kuwait was surprisingly held to a draw by Indonesia, the lead even being taken by the Indonesians. However, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and South Korea eventually established their position, with South Korea finishing in third place due to losing to Kuwait and inferior goal difference and qualified only as one of two best third-placed teams, while the host comfortably seized first place, leaving Indonesia 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. 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.[1] Thanked for the win, Saudi Arabia gained automatic berth to qualify for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup held in Lebanon.

Venues

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Abu Dhabi Al Ain
Sheikh Zayed Stadium Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium
Capacity: 60,000 Capacity: 15,000
   
Dubai
Al-Maktoum Stadium
Capacity: 12,000
 

First round

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All times are UAE time (UTC+4)

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   United Arab Emirates (H) 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 7 Advance to knockout stage
2   Kuwait 3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 4
3   South Korea 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4
4   Indonesia 3 0 1 2 4 8 −4 1
Source: RSSSF
(H) Hosts


United Arab Emirates  1–1  South Korea
K. Saad   40' Report Hwang Sun-Hong   9'
Indonesia  2–2  Kuwait
Widodo   20'
Ronny   40'
Report Al-Saqer   73'
Haji   84' (pen.)

United Arab Emirates  3–2  Kuwait
Saeed   53'
Al-Talyani   55'
B. Saad   80'
Report Al-Huwaidi   9', 44'
South Korea  4–2  Indonesia
Kim Do-Hoon   5'
Hwang Sun-Hong   7', 15'
Ko Jeong-Woon   55'
Report Ronny   58'
Widodo   65'

United Arab Emirates  2–0  Indonesia
Saeed   15'
Al-Talyani   64'
Report
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Lu Jun (China)
Kuwait  2–0  South Korea
Al-Huwaidi   60'
B. Abdullah   87'
Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Mohd Nazri Abdullah (Malaysia)

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Iran 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 6 Advance to knockout stage
2   Saudi Arabia 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 6
3   Iraq 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6
4   Thailand 3 0 0 3 2 13 −11 0
Source: RSSSF


Saudi Arabia  6–0  Thailand
Al-Temawi   10' (pen.), 29' (pen.)
Al-Mehallel   15', 54'
Al-Muwallid   18'
Al-Jaber   52'
Report
Attendance: 5,000
Iran  1–2  Iraq
Daei   90' (pen.) Report Fawzi   37'
Sabbar   69'
Attendance: 15,000

Saudi Arabia  1–0  Iraq
Al-Mehallel   26' Report
Thailand  1–3  Iran
Kiatisuk   80' Report Saadavi   38'
Minavand   54'
Daei   70'
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Lu Jun (China)

Saudi Arabia  0–3  Iran
Report Daei   12'
Bagheri   37'
Azizi   47'
Attendance: 12,000
Iraq  4–1  Thailand
Mahmoud   17', 50'
Hussein   23', 63'
Report Dusit   26'

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Japan 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   China 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
3   Syria 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3
4   Uzbekistan 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3
Source: RSSSF


Japan  2–1  Syria
Abbas   85' (o.g.)
Takagi   88'
Report Joukhadar   8'
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Mohd Nazri Abdullah (Malaysia)
China  0–2  Uzbekistan
Report Shkvyrin   78'
Shatskikh   90'

Japan  4–0  Uzbekistan
Nanami   7'
Miura   37'
Maezono   86', 90'
Report
Syria  0–3  China
Report Ma Mingyu   35'
Gao Feng   49'
Li Bing   73'

Japan  1–0  China
Soma   90' Report
Uzbekistan  1–2  Syria
Lebedev   53' (pen.) Report Joukhadar   48'
Cheikh-Dib   74'

Third-placed qualifiers

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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.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Iraq 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2   South Korea 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4
3   Syria 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3
Source: RSSSF

Iraq (best third-place) and South Korea (second best third-place) qualified for the quarter-finals.

Knockout stage

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All times are UAE time (UTC+4)

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
15 December – Abu Dhabi
 
 
  United Arab Emirates (a.e.t.)1
 
18 December – Abu Dhabi
 
  Iraq0
 
  United Arab Emirates1
 
15 December – Al Ain
 
  Kuwait0
 
  Kuwait2
 
21 December – Abu Dhabi
 
  Japan0
 
  United Arab Emirates0 (2)
 
16 December – Dubai
 
  Saudi Arabia (pen.)0 (4)
 
  South Korea2
 
18 December – Abu Dhabi
 
  Iran6
 
  Iran0 (3)
 
16 December – Abu Dhabi
 
  Saudi Arabia (pen.)0 (4) Third place
 
  Saudi Arabia4
 
21 December – Abu Dhabi
 
  China3
 
  Kuwait1 (2)
 
 
  Iran (pen.)1 (3)
 

Quarter-finals

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United Arab Emirates  1–0 (a.e.t./g.g.)  Iraq
Ab. Ibrahim   103' Report

Kuwait  2–0  Japan
Al-Huwaidi   17', 54' Report

South Korea  2–6  Iran
Kim Do-Hoon   11'
Shin Tae-Yong   35'
Report Bagheri   31'
Azizi   52'
Daei   66', 76', 83', 89' (pen.)
Attendance: 19,000

Saudi Arabia  4–3  China
Al-Thunayan   31', 65'
Al-Jaber   34'
Al-Mehallel   43'
Report Zhang Enhua   6', 89'
Peng Weiguo   16'
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Mohd Nazri Abdullah (Malaysia)

Semi-finals

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United Arab Emirates  1–0  Kuwait
Saeed   69' Report

Third place play-off

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Iran  1–1 (a.e.t.)  Kuwait
Daei   40' Report Al-Huwaidi   15'
Penalties
Moharrami  
Estili  
Peyrovani  
Bagheri  
3–2   Haji
  B. Abdullah
  Al-Lenqawi
  Mubarak
  Al-Huwaidi

Final

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United Arab Emirates  0–0 (a.e.t.)  Saudi Arabia
Report
Penalties
M. Ali  
Hussain  
K. Saad  
Saeed  
2–4   Al-Thunayan
  Zubromawi
  Al-Harbi
  Al-Temawi
  Al-Muwallid
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Mohd Nazri Abdullah (Malaysia)

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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With eight goals, Iran's Ali Daei 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

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Awards

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Best player

Top scorer

Best goalkeeper

Fair play award

Team of the Tournament[2]

Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards

  Mohamed Al-Deayea

  Abdullah Zubromawi
  Yousuf Hussain
  Mohammad Khakpour

  Mehrdad Minavand
  Mohamed Ali
  Khalid Al-Muwallid
  Saad Bakheet Mubarak

  Fahad Al-Mehallel
  Jasem Al-Huwaidi
  Ali Daei

Marketing

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Sponsorships

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References

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  1. ^ "AFC Asian Cup Archive: When Saudi Arabia reigned supreme in 1996". 12 January 2017.
  2. ^ "كأس آسيا 1996.. عندما انتزع المنتخب السعودي اللقب من الإمارات صاحب الأرض" (in Arabic). Sport 360. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Drinks company cash boost for Asia". South China Morning Post. 21 July 1994. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Why soccer struggles to kick tobacco". South China Morning Post. 16 January 1995. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
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