2000 AFC Asian Cup

2000 AFC Asian Cup
Asian Cup Lebanon 2000; كأس آسيا 2000; Coupe d'Asie des nations 2000
	Logo of the 2000 Asian Cup
Tournament details
Host country	Lebanon
Dates	12 – 29 October
Teams	12
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Japan (2nd title)
Runners-up	Saudi Arabia
Third place	South Korea
Fourth place	China PR
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	77 (2.96 per match)
Attendance	276,488 (10,634 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Lee Dong-Gook (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Hiroshi Nanami
Best goalkeeper	Jiang Jin
Fair play award	Saudi Arabia

The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th 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 Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan defeated defending champion Saudi Arabia in the final match in Beirut.

Qualification

42 teams participated in a preliminary tournament. It was divided into 10 groups and the first-placed team of each group thus qualified. A total of 84 games were held, starting with the Oman versus Kyrgyzstan game on 3 August 1999.

The other 10 qualifying teams were:

Country	Qualified as	Date qualification was secured	Previous appearances in tournament^{1, 2}
Lebanon	Hosts	1996	0 (Debut)
Saudi Arabia	1996 AFC Asian Cup winners	21 December 1996	4 (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996)
Iraq	Qualifying round Group 1 winners	7 August 1999	3 (1972, 1976, 1996)
Indonesia	Qualifying round Group 7 winners	20 November 1999	1 (1996)
Uzbekistan	Qualifying round Group 3 winners	26 November 1999	1 (1996)
China PR	Qualifying round Group 9 winners	29 January 2000	6 (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996)
Kuwait	Qualifying round Group 5 winners	18 February 2000	6 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996)
Japan	Qualifying round Group 10 winners	20 February 2000	3 (1988, 1992, 1996)
Qatar	Qualifying round Group 4 winners	8 April 2000	4 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992)
South Korea	Qualifying round Group 6 winners	9 April 2000	8 (1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996)
Thailand	Qualifying round Group 8 winners	9 April 2000	3 (1972, 1992, 1996)
Iran	Qualifying round Group 2 winners	11 April 2000	8 (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996)

Notes:

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

² Italic indicates host

Stadiums

Beirut Sidon Tripoli	Beirut	Sidon	Tripoli
	Sports City Stadium	Saida International Stadium	International Olympic Stadium
	Capacity: 47,799	Capacity: 22,600	Capacity: 22,400

Squads

Tournament summary

Lebanon participated in the country's first ever football competition in the history as host, but began disappointingly, losing 0–4 to mighty Iran. Lebanon sought to reinvigorate the team against Iraq and Thailand, but all ended up in just draws, and Lebanon finished bottom in the group, the first host nation since Qatar 1988 to not progress from the group stage. Iran and Iraq managed to survive in the group A with seven and four points respectively, and Thailand took the third, but did not progress due to inferior points, having won no match in their group. Group B saw South Korea failed to achieve a top two finish, falling behind group winner China and Kuwait, but qualified as the best third place team, with the team's only win was against Indonesia. Indonesia was the only team to not score a single goal in the tournament, being beaten by South Korea and China, and a goalless draw with Kuwait. Group C witnessed Uzbekistan to become the worst-performed team in the tournament, being heavily beaten 1–8 by Japan and 0–5 by defending champions Saudi Arabia. The Japanese scrambled to top the group with a famous 4–1 win over the Saudis, though Saudi Arabia would go on to progress together after an unpromising group stage performance. Qatar, another participant in the group, finished in third and progressed thanked for one point ahead of Thailand, having drawn in all three matches.

The quarter-finals saw Iran lost 1–2 to South Korea by a golden goal of Lee Dong-gook, and the same happened in Saudi Arabia's victory over Kuwait, also by a golden goal of Nawaf Al-Temyat. China and Japan easily passed through their Arab rivals Qatar and Iraq, with 3–1 and 4–1 wins respectively, to set up an entirely East Asian affair in the semi-finals, with Saudi Arabia being the only non-East Asian team to be here.

The first semi-finals saw Saudi Arabia sealed the victory over the South Koreans, with two goals by Talal Al-Meshal at 76' and 80' meant Lee Dong-gook's late equalizer was too little, too late. Japan beat China in a thriller in Beirut, 3–2, to once again face the Saudis in the final. In the third place match, South Korea won bronze with a 1–0 win over China.

The final in Beirut was filled with majority of Saudi supporters, and was seen as the rematch of the 1992 final and earlier group stage encounter. Hamzah Idris had a chance to take the Saudis ahead of Japan at 10', but he missed the opportunity. Eventually, the missing penalty was what the Saudis regretted the most, because Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, who had accidentally given the Saudis the failed opportunity on the penalty earlier, became the hero of Japan with a goal in 30'. Saudi attempt proved to be fruitless, and Japan won the game by just one goal margin, to conquer its second Asian trophy, repeating Japan's victory over Saudi Arabia eight years ago. Subsequently, Japan and Saudi Arabia, two top finishers in the tournament, automatically qualified for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup.

First round

All times are Lebanon summer time (UTC+3).

Key to colours in group tables
	Group winners, runners-up, and best two third-placed teams advance to the quarter-finals

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iran (A)	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7
Iraq (A)	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
Thailand	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2
Lebanon	3	0	2	1	3	7	−4	2

Source:
(A) Advanced to knockout round.

12 October 2000

15:00

Iraq	2–0	Thailand
Chathir 27' Mahmoud 60'	Report

Saida International Stadium, Sidon

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)

12 October 2000