| Tourney Name: | AFC Asian Cup |
| Year: | 2027 |
| Other Titles: | Arabic: كأس آسيا 2027 |
| Country: | Saudi Arabia |
| Dates: | 15 January – 8 February |
| Num Teams: | 24 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Venues: | 10 |
| Cities: | 4 |
| Prevseason: | 2023 |
| Nextseason: | 2031 |
The 2027 AFC Asian Cup will be the 19th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament involves 24 national teams after the expansion in 2019. It will be held in January 2027 in Saudi Arabia.[1] [2]
The tournament will return to its usual four-year cycle, after the 2023 edition was postponed to 2024 due to the removal of China as hosts, and high summer temperatures in Qatar.
Qatar are the two-time defending champions.
See main article: 2027 AFC Asian Cup bids.
AFC confirmed that the following member associations expressed their interests to host 2027 Asian Cup before the 30 June 2020 deadline,[3] and they gave their necessary letters of undertaking in November.[4] On 17 October 2022, the AFC Executive Committee announced that the host of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup would be chosen by the AFC Congress at its next meeting on 1 February 2023 in Manama, Bahrain.[5] [6] However, India, one of the last two bidders, withdrew on 5 December[7] leaving Saudi Arabia as the only remaining bidder. On 1 February, the AFC confirmed that Saudi Arabia won the bid and will host the tournament for the first time.[1]
See main article: 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification. The first two rounds of qualification will act as part of the Asian qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia, which received automatic qualification for the Asian Cup as host, is also expected to participate in the qualifiers to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.[8]
Northern Mariana Islands, whose football association became the 47th full AFC member during the confederation's 30th Congress on 9 December 2020,[9] was only eligible to enter the qualification tournament for the Asian Cup, but was ultimately excluded.[10]
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | data-sort-type="number" | Finals appearances | First appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12th | |||||||
| 6th | |||||||
| 11th | |||||||
| 16th | |||||||
| 9th | |||||||
| 12th | |||||||
| 12th | |||||||
| 11th | |||||||
| 16th | |||||||
| 6th | 2004 | 2023 | |||||
| 4th | |||||||
| 8th | 1988 | 2023 | |||||
| 6th | 2004 | 2023 | |||||
| 14th | 1976 | 2023 | |||||
| 6th | 1996 | 2023 | |||||
| 6th | 1980 | 2019 | |||||
| 11th | 1972 | 2015 | |||||
| 3rd | 2019 | 2023 |
The following are the host cities and venues selected for Saudi Arabia's bid:[11]
| Riyadh | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Fahd Sports City Stadium | King Saud University Stadium | Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium | Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium | Al-Murabba Stadium | |
| Capacity: 70,000 | Capacity: 25,000 | Capacity: 44,500 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 45,000 | |
| Jeddah | Dammam | Khobar | |||
| King Abdullah Sports City Stadium | Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium | Dammam Stadium | Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium | Prince Saud bin Jalawi Sports City Stadium | |
| Capacity: 65,000 | Capacity: 27,000 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 25,226 | Capacity: 24,440 | |
Official Global Partners
Official Global Supporters
The broadcasters around the world that acquired the rights to the tournament included:
| Territory | Broadcaster(s) | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount+ and Network 10 | [15] | ||
| [16] | |||
| DAZN | |||
| (exc. IRN, IRQ, KSA, KUW, QAT and UAE) | beIN Sports | ||
| Al Kass | |||
| Shahid and SSC | [17] | ||
| Coupang Play | [18] | ||
| K+ | [19] [20] |