Group C of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup took place from 14 to 23 January 2024.[1] The group consisted of Iran, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Palestine.[2] The top two teams, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, along with third-placed Palestine (as one of the four best third-placed teams), advanced to the round of 16.
Teams edit
| 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 edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Palestine | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
Matches edit
United Arab Emirates vs Hong Kong edit
This was the first time the sides met in the group stage of an Asian Cup. They had previously met three times in the past, with a draw in 2000 and two 4–0 wins for the Emiratis as part of 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification.
In the 30th minute, Sultan Adil shot his ball to the hand of Hong Kong defender Oliver Gerbig, with the referee deciding to give a penalty after consulting VAR due to Gerbig's hand movement being deemed abnormal. Adil then converted the penalty himself to give the Emiratis the lead. Early in the second half, Everton Camargo delivered a brilliant pass from the right flank to Chan Siu Kwan, who then equalised with what was Hong Kong's first goal since Li Kwok Keung on 15 May 1968, and the 1,000th goal in 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 keeper Yapp Hung Fai, when Sultan was quick to seize the opportunity over the ball's deflection to his position. In the first minute of second-half stoppage time, Yahya Al-Ghassani was deemed to have been fouled by Shinichi Chan while dribbling in Hong Kong's penalty area after another VAR consultation, going on to become a controversial penalty decision, during which Al-Ghassani would again successfully convert in the sixth minute of added time. Minutes later, Michael Udebuluzor scored a second goal for Hong Kong which was ruled out by VAR again, as the United Arab Emirates triumphed 3–1.
| United Arab Emirates | 3–1 | Hong Kong |
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          United Arab Emirates |      Hong Kong |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: |
Iran vs Palestine edit
The sides had faced each other six times prior, with Iran undefeated in all matches; their most recent meeting was a friendly in 2018, which ended with a 1–1 draw.
Iran got off to a dream start after a fast attack saw Mehdi Ghayedi seize the opportunity from a throw-in, passing to Saman Ghoddos who sent the ball to Karim Ansarifard, putting Iran in front after just two minutes. Iran doubled their lead ten minutes later after Ghoddos delivered a set-piece which Shojae Khalilzadeh quickly got on the end of to strike the ball into the net. In the 38th minute, a failed clearance from Palestine's Mohammed Rashid was intercepted by Ansarifard, who then passed to Alireza Jahanbakhsh and then Ghayedi, striking a low shot to give Iran a three-goal lead. In the sixth minute of first half stoppage time, a clever set-piece from Palestine's Zaid Qunbar caught Iranian defender Saeid Ezatolahi by surprise, as he headed the ball directly to his opponent Tamer Seyam, whose subsequent converted header was thus onside and reduced Iran's lead back to a two-goal margin. Iran then buried any Palestinian hope of a comeback in the 55th minute when Sadegh Moharrami, receiving the ball from Majid Hosseini, delivered a decisive pass for Sardar Azmoun, who then struck the net after clumsy attempts by the Palestinians to clear the ball.
| Iran | 4–1 | Palestine |
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| Report |
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   Iran |     Palestine |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: |
Palestine vs United Arab Emirates edit
This was the sides' first meeting since 2016, when the two faced as part of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, with the United Arab Emirates winning 2–0 at home.
The UAE had the better start, and in the 23rd minute, from a contested ball in the midfield won by Ali Saleh, he provided a perfect cross for Sultan Adil, who then headed into the Palestinian net to give the Emiratis the lead. However, the match changed direction significantly after a pulling foul in the area from Emirati defender Khalifa Al Hammadi on Oday Dabbagh in the 34th minute, which resulted in Al Hammadi's dismissal after VAR intervention; despite this, Tamer Seyam failed to convert from the resulting penalty with goalkeeper Khalid Eisa keeping his effort out. Nonetheless, Palestine's persistent pressure paid off in the 50th minute when, from a long-range delivery, Seyam redeemed himself with a tricky cross into the penalty area, which Bader Nasser's header turned into an own goal to level the match. In spite of this goal and persistent continued Palestinian pressure, the United Arab Emirates held firm as the contest ended in a draw, denying the Palestinians a first-ever win at the Asian Cup.
 Palestine | United Arab Emirates |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: |
Hong Kong vs Iran edit
This was the sides' first meeting in an Asian Cup since 1968. Iran had previously faced Hong Kong seven times, all competitive fixtures, with Hong Kong recording one win and Iran six, including their most recent encounter as part of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, which Iran won 4–0.
Hong Kong surprised Iran with some long-range efforts and duels won over Iranian players, particularly when a poor attempt to kick the ball away by the Iranians ended up hitting Everton Camargo as he put his shot wide. In the 24th minute, however, Mehdi Taremi would provide a clinical pass for Mehdi Ghayedi from a breakthrough the defence, before Ghayedi finished in the bottom left of Hong Kong's net to score Iran's only goal, and also the only goal of the match to secure Iran's win.
| Hong Kong | Iran |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: |
Iran vs United Arab Emirates edit
This was the sides' first meeting in the Asian Cup since 2015, which Iran won 1–0. Iran also won by the same scoreline when the sides met during 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, both home and away.
Iran quickly proved their dominance in the match, and it paid off in the 26th minute when a clinical one-touch play from Sardar Azmoun met Mehdi Taremi in the right position, as he overcame two remaining Emirati defenders to open the scoring, before Ali Gholizadeh had another header in the 36th minute ruled out for offside. Iran's rampant pressure consistently pushed the Emiratis to the brink, but as Iran poured everything into a second goal, an Emirati counterattack saw Yahya Al-Ghassani sneak into the Iranian penalty area before being fouled by Hossein Kanaanizadegan, which resulted in a yellow card for Kanaani and a penalty for the UAE. However, Al-Ghassani then squandered the 63rd minute spot kick, and his team was made to pay the price two minutes later, when a misjudged pass by Khalid Ibrahim was intercepted by Azmoun, whose backheel pass for Taremi allowed the latter to strike Iran's second goal. Iran had two more goals ruled out by VAR, first for an offside from Azmoun and then a second from Mohammad Mohebi due to his earlier foul on Emirati midfielder Majid Rashid. As the match drew to a close, in the third minute of stoppage time, Al-Ghassani redeemed himself when he got on the end of a rebound from Abdullah Ramadan's long-ranged shot, which he was able to head home; while it did not alter the match's outcome, Al-Ghassani's goal secured the Emiratis second place and progression from the group.
| Iran | 2–1 | United Arab Emirates |
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| Iran |      United Arab Emirates |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: |
Hong Kong vs Palestine edit
This marked the sides' first meeting in 23 years, a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification fixture won 1–0 by Palestine.
The Palestinians got off to a dream start when, after opening the match aggressively, Musab Al-Battat received a pass before sneaking into Hong Kong's left flank, providing a clinical aerial delivery to Oday Dabbagh, whose header hit the ground and then went into the net to open the score in the 12th minute. Al-Battat then repeated the same trick in the 48th minute, when his clinical delivery reached Zaid Qunbar, who capitalised with another header for the second Palestine goal. In the 60th minute, from a failed attempt to score from Hong Kong, the Palestinians provided a quick counterattack, with Tamer Seyam striking the crossbar before the ball rebounded to Dabbagh once again, who didn't miss the opportunity to score his side's third goal. Hong Kong had a final chance to get on the scoresheet at the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, when Al-Battat let his hand touch the ball from an effort by Everton Camargo, but Camargo himself then failed to convert the penalty which ensured the final scoreline.
This was Palestine's first-ever victory in Asian Cup history, and with four points, they managed to advance past the group stage for the first time ever.
| Hong Kong |     Palestine |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: |
Discipline edit
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 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | | | | | | | | | | ||
| Iran | 1 | 2 | –3 | ||||||||||
| Hong Kong | 2 | 2 | 2 | –6 | |||||||||
| Palestine | 6 | 1 | –7 | ||||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | –7 | ||||||||
Notes edit
- ^ United Arab Emirates manager Paulo Bento was suspended for the match due to his sending off in United Arab Emirates's match against Palestine. Assistant manager Sérgio Costa filled in as manager.
References edit
- ^ ""Match Schedule – AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023"" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ "#AsianCup2023 Groups Finalised". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 May 2023.