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Once again, Qatar hosts one of the most important international championship in the most popular sport, which is football, as Qatar will organize the Asian Cup for Men 2023, the State of Qatar is organizing AFC after China (the winning country in organizing it), withdrew from doing so, in implementation of the policy of no gatherings to limit the spread of the Corona pandemic.
The championship will start on January 12, 2024, in a match that includes two teams from the first group, namely the host country team, Qatar, and the Lebanese team, at the well-known Lusail Stadium, which hosted the Qatar 2022 World Cup matches, as for the final match, it is scheduled for February 10 and will most likely take place at Lusail Stadium, as well.
The AFC will be held in a group system, where the first and second placed teams from each group will qualify, in addition to the best third placed teams, so that the number of participating teams will be 16. Then the defeated team will be eliminated, then the quarter-finals, then the semi-finals, and finally the final.
The matches will be in five Qatari cities: the capital, Doha, Lusail, Al-Rayyan, Al-Wakrah, and Al-Khor, distributed across 9 stadiums, including Lusail Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Qatar University Stadium, and Al Janoub (The south) Stadium, education City Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, and lastly, Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
It is the 18th tournament of the Asian Cup. The AFC will take place with the participation of 24 teams divided into six groups, the first group, in addition to the host nation Qatar, includes China, Lebanon, and Tajikistan, the second group includes Australia, India, Syria, and Uzbekistan and the third group includes the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Palestine, and Hong Kong, while the fourth group includes Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, and Vietnam, the fifth group includes Malaysia, Jordan, South Korea, and Bahrain, last but not least, the sixth and final group includes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Oman, and Kyrgyzstan.
Ticket sales process:
The process of selling tickets will only take place electronically through the official platform designated for this purpose, and the selling process will take place in stages to give an opportunity to the largest possible number of fans. Various packages have been allocated, including packages for attending one match or for attending matches of a specific team, and other options, ticket prices start at $7 for a ticket to attend one match, 6,000 volunteers will also be appointed to help organize the tournament, while the number of volunteer requests so far has reached more than 30,000 requests.
This is not the first time for Qatar, but rather the third time in its history, Qatar previously organized the Asian Cup in 1988 and 2011.
Qatar is seeking to obtain the title for the second time in its history after defeating Japan in 2019, (3-1), the defending champion 4 times.
With strong competition among several teams that are strong candidates for the title, good luck to everyone and good luck to Qatar that hosting AFC 2023, which has proven that it is capable of organizing these types of huge championships.