The 2023 Asian Cup is still not clear
Initially, the 2023 Asian Cup was held in China from June 16 to July 16, 2023. FIFA also chooses this period as the FIFA Days calendar to help teams gather the strongest force to compete.
However, by May 2022, China asked to withdraw due to the Zero Covid policy, so there was not enough time to prepare. Qatar - the host country of the 2022 World Cup - was chosen instead, but due to the hot weather characteristics, it can only hold the event in winter, between November and February.
The AFC proposes to hold the 2023 Asian Cup in December 2023 or January 2024. But FIFA has not approved it, because this schedule is between two gatherings of the 2026 World Cup qualifying team in November 2023 and March 2024. In addition, FIFA also faced similar criticism at the 2022 World Cup when it organized the inter-season tournament of the national championship season.
"We are consulting with FIFA on a new team gathering schedule," AFC spokesman Nidal Bahran told Oman Sports. "The teams all want to have the best players and the AFC also wants the best tournament."
Before this information, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) said that it was still waiting for the final announcement of the AFC, thereby making timely adjustments to the V-League schedule for the first time spanning two years in the 2023-season season. 2024.
Qatar is the defending Asian Cup champion and this is also their third time hosting the tournament after 1988 and 2011.
The 2023 Asian Cup finals include 24 participating teams. Vietnam won early tickets thanks to qualifying for the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. The remaining teams include Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Baihrain, Korea, Japan, China, Oman, Palestine, Jordan , Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Jajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia.
The draw will be held in June 2023 at the latest. The 24 teams are divided into six round-robin groups, and the six best teams, six second-place teams and four best third-placed teams will advance to the 1/8 round.
