By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The just-concluded 18th AFC Asia Cup hosted and won by Qatar saw the shattering of 15 records, data from InsideSport revealed.
The competition attracted players from across the top leagues of the globe sweating it out for their different participating countries.
During the tournament, Qatar’s Hassan Al-Haydos became only the second player to ever win the AFC Asian Cup as a captain on two separate occasions, while Akram Afif (Qatar) tied Ali Daei (Iran) as the player with the second most goals scored in one AFC Asian Cup tournament – 8.
Additionally, Qatar joined South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan as the only defending champions that won, and they also became the 7th nation to win during their hosting year.
Iran also extended its record for the most overall matches won, while China extended its “record” for the most matches lost.
Below is the full list of 15 records that were broken at the competition.
Players
Hassan Al-Haydos (Qatar) joined Ali Parvin (Iran) as the only player to win the AFC Asian Cup twice as a captain – Parvin did so in 1972 and 1976, and Al-Haydos achieved it once again after first winning as Qatar’s captain in 2019.
Almoez Ali (Qatar), Akram Afif (Qatar) and Sardar Azmoun (Iran) all climbed up in the rankings of the most successful goal scorers in the AFC Asian Cups history – Ali went from tied 3rd place to 2nd place after scoring 2 goals in this year’s tournament, bringing his total to 11 – he is now second only to Ali Daei (14 goals in total); Afif jumped up to the 4th place after scoring 8 goals, bringing his total to 9, while Azmoun moved up from 12th place to 7th after scoring 2 goals this year, bringing his total to 8 goals.
Akram Afif (Qatar) tied Ali Daei (Iran) as the player with the second most goals scored in one AFC Asian Cup tournament – 8 (they are second only to Qatar’s Almoez Ali who scored 9 in 2019).
6 players joined a group of 20 other players who have appeared in AFC Asian Cup tournaments 4 or more times: Hassan Al-Haydos (Qatar), Saad Al-Sheeb (Qatar), Ehsan Hajsafi (Iran), Karim Ansarifard (Iran), Son Heung-min (South Korea), Zhang Linpeng (China).
Qatar
Qatar became the 7th host that won during its hosting year – Qatar also became the first one to do so on their second try (they were the host also in 1988 but they finished in the group stages).
Qatar joined South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan as a winning defending champion.
Iran
Iran extended its record as the nation with the most matches played – before this year, they had played 68 matches at the AFC Asian Cup, and they played an additional 6 matches this tournament, bringing their total to 74.
Iran also extended its record as the nation with the most matches won – before this year, they had won 41 times, and they won 4 matches during this year’s tournament, bringing their total to 45.
Iran extended its record as the nation with the most overall points gained during the AFC Asian Cup matches (points counted for wins, losses & draws) -as of now, they have 155 points, which is 22 more than the nation in second place, South Korea.
After a draw with Syria, Iran extended its record as the nation with the most matches ending up in a draw – in total, they have ended up in a draw 20 times.
Iran extended its record as the nation with the most bronze medals (this is their 6th).
China
After losing to Qatar, China extended its record as the nation with the most overall matches lost – they have lost 21 times.
Dipo Olowookere