Luxuriant Lusail Stadium to host AFC matchups

Article posted by Coliseum, August 28^th, 2023

Image: AFC

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ Local Organising Committee (LOC) confirmed recently that the opening match and eagerly anticipated final of the upcoming edition of Asia’s crown jewel are set to be played at one of the largest match venues ever in tournament history.

‘The AFC’ stated that the iconic Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, which most recently staged the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final™, will rise to the fore again by hosting the first match between the defending champions Qatar and Lebanon in Group A on January 12^th, 2024. The kick-off will now be at 7 pm local time.

Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)-based the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach football and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), joined AFC in 2006.

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The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18^th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Asia organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 2019, with Qatar as the defending champions. It will be hosted by Qatar and will be held from January 12^th-February 10^th, 2024.

The 88,966-capacity Lusail Stadium is a football stadium in Lusail, Qatar. Owned by the Qatar Football Association, it is the largest stadium in Qatar and the Middle East by capacity and is one of the eight stadiums built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™. It hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final™ game between Argentina and France on December 18^th, 2022.

The Qatar Football Association (QFA) is the governing body of football in Qatar. The QFA was founded in 1960 and is based in Doha, Qatar. It became a member of FIFA in 1963 and of AFC in 1967.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup™ was the 22^nd FIFA World Cup™, the world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from November 20^th to December 18^th, 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2010.

‘The AFC’ further stated that the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ will return to the Lusail Stadium when it culminates in the final on February 10^th, 2024 at 6 pm.

With a capacity of 88,000-plus, the Lusail Stadium will be one of the largest match venues in the AFC Asian Cup™ history behind Tehran’s (Iran) 78,116-capacity Aryamehr Stadium, which seated 100,000 spectators during the 1976 final between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kuwait, and the 88,083-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta (Indonesia) that hosted seven matches in 2007.

The addition of the world-class Lusail Stadium, which hosted 10 World Cup matches, will elevate the match-going experience for the passionate Asian football fans in Doha as they get the opportunity to take in an architectural marvel that showcases the heritage and culture of Qatar, who are hosting the showpiece for a record third time.

The rest of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ fixtures will take place at eight other stadiums, as confirmed in April, including the 68,895-capacity Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, which was the original venue for the first and final matches.

Due to Lusail Stadium’s confirmation as the ninth venue, and considering key functional areas such as transportation, venue and match operations as well as pitch playability, among others, further changes have been made to the official match schedule of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™.

For the full match schedule, click HERE.

*All timings indicated in Qatar local time.

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