1996_AFC_Asian_Cup
1996 AFC Asian Cup
International football competition
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.
| كأس آسيا 1996 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United Arab Emirates |
| Dates | 4–21 December |
| Teams | 12 |
| 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 played | 26 |
| Goals scored | 80 (3.08 per match) |
| Attendance | 448,000 (17,231 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ali Daei (8 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Khodadad Azizi |
| Best goalkeeper | Mohamed Al-Deayea |
| Fair play award | Iran |
← 1992 2000 → | |
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
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.
| Abu Dhabi | Al Ain |
|---|---|
| Sheikh Zayed Stadium | Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium |
| Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 15,000 |
| Dubai | |
| Al-Maktoum Stadium | |
| Capacity: 12,000 | |
All times are UAE time (UTC+4)
Group A
| 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 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1–1 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
K. Saad  40' |
Report | Hwang Sun-Hong 9' |
| 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 |
Group B
| 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 |
| Saudi Arabia | 6–0 | Thailand |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Temawi 10' (pen.), 29' (pen.) Al-Mehallel 15', 54'Al-Muwallid 18'Al-Jaber 52' |
Report |
Group C
| 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 |
| Uzbekistan | 1–2 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
| Lebedev 53' (pen.) |
Report | Joukhadar 48' Cheikh-Dib 74' |
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.
| 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 |
Iraq (best third-place) and South Korea (second best third-place) qualified for the quarter-finals.
All times are UAE time (UTC+4)
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 15 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||
| United Arab Emirates (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||
| 18 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||
| Iraq | 0 | |||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | |||||||||
| 15 December – Al Ain | ||||||||||
| Kuwait | 0 | |||||||||
| Kuwait | 2 | |||||||||
| 21 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||
| Japan | 0 | |||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 0 (2) | |||||||||
| 16 December – Dubai | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia (pen.) | 0 (4) | |||||||||
| South Korea | 2 | |||||||||
| 18 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||
| Iran | 6 | |||||||||
| Iran | 0 (3) | |||||||||
| 16 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia (pen.) | 0 (4) | Third place | ||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 4 | |||||||||
| 21 December – Abu Dhabi | ||||||||||
| China | 3 | |||||||||
| Kuwait | 1 (2) | |||||||||
| Iran (pen.) | 1 (3) | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| United Arab Emirates | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
Ab. Ibrahim  103' |
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.) |
| Saudi Arabia | 4–3 | China |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Thunayan 31', 65' Al-Jaber 34'Al-Mehallel 43' |
Report | Zhang Enhua 6', 89' Peng Weiguo 16' |
Semi-finals
| United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | Kuwait |
|---|---|---|
| Saeed 69' |
Report |
| Iran | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
Daei  Peyrovani  Yazdani Estili Bagheri Khakpour |
3–4 | Al-Temawi Sulaimani Zubromawi Al-Muwallid Al-Harbi Madani |
Third place play-off
| Iran | 1–1 | Kuwait |
|---|---|---|
| Daei 40' |
Report | Al-Huwaidi 15' |
| Penalties | ||
| Moharrami Estili Peyrovani Bagheri |
3–2 | Haji B. Abdullah Al-Lenqawi Mubarak Al-Huwaidi |
Final
| 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 |
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Goalscorers
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
Hwang Sun-Hong
Hassan Saeed
2 goals
1 goal
Gao Feng- Ma Mingyu
- Li Bing
- Peng Weiguo
Mehrdad Minavand- Naeim Saadavi
Hussam Fawzi- Khalid Mohammed Sabbar
Kazuyoshi Miura- Hiroshi Nanami
- Naoki Soma
- Takuya Takagi
- Ko Jeong-Woon
- Shin Tae-Yong
Bashar Abdullah- Badr Haji
- Hani Al Saqer
Khalid Al-Muwallid
Ali Cheikh Dib
Dusit Chalermsan- Kiatisuk Senamuang
- Abdulrahman Ibrahim
- Saad Bakheet Mubarak
- Khamis Saad
Sergey Lebedev- Oleg Shatskikh
- Igor Shkvyrin
1 own goal
- Hassan Abbas (for Japan)
Awards
Best player
Top scorer
Best goalkeeper
Fair play award
Team of the Tournament[2]
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Sponsorships
- "AFC Asian Cup Archive: When Saudi Arabia reigned supreme in 1996". 12 January 2017.
- "كأس آسيا 1996.. عندما انتزع المنتخب السعودي اللقب من الإمارات صاحب الأرض" (in Arabic). Sport 360. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- "Drinks company cash boost for Asia". South China Morning Post. 21 July 1994. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- "Why soccer struggles to kick tobacco". South China Morning Post. 16 January 1995. Retrieved 17 October 2023.