The Asian Cup, now known as the AFC Asian Cup is the Asian football competition that recurs every four years. It is the continent’s premier football tournament. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of the Asian Cup and the first AFC Asian Cup was conducted in 1956, with South Korea winning the inaugural title.
Hong Kong hosted the first Asian Cup, which was contested by the 12 founding members of the AFC. Followed by the hosting team Hong Kong, various Asian countries took turns to host the AFC Asian Cup every four years. 2007 was an exception and because of it, the quadrennial cycle was moved forward one year.
Initially, 16 teams qualifying for the Asian Cup play in a four-group round-robin stage, followed by a knockout tournament between the eight teams that qualify in the previous stage. Now that the count of teams has increased to 24, the qualifying format has also changed.
Country with the Most Asian Cup Wins
The most successful team in the Asian Cup tournament is Japan, with four titles. Japan hosted and won the AFC Asian Cup in 1992. Followed by 4 wins, Iran and Saudi Arabia have each won three championship title. Australia is the reigning champion after defeating South Korea 2-1.
List of AFC Asian Cup Winners
The table below shows the AFC Asian Cup winners and the countries that have hosted the event.
| No | Year | Host | Winner | Runner-Up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1956 | Hong Kong | South Korea | Israel | round-robin |
| 2 | 1960 | South Korea | South Korea | Israel | round-robin |
| 3 | 1964 | Israel | Israel | India | round-robin |
| 4 | 1968 | Iran | Iran | Burma | round-robin |
| 5 | 1972 | Thailand | Iran | South Korea | 2–1 (a.e.t.) |
| 6 | 1976 | Iran | Iran | Kuwait | 1–0 |
| 7 | 1980 | Kuwait | Kuwait | South Korea | 3–0 |
| 8 | 1984 | Singapore | Saudi Arabia | China PR | 2–0 |
| 9 | 1988 | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | South Korea | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) |
| 10 | 1992 | Japan | Japan | Saudi Arabia | 1–0 |
| 11 | 1996 | United Arab Emirates | Saudi Arabia | United Arab Emirates | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) |
| 12 | 2000 | Lebanon | Japan | Saudi Arabia | 1–0 |
| 13 | 2004 | China | Japan | China PR | 3–1 |
| 14 | 2007 | Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Vietnam | Iraq | Saudi Arabia | 1–0 |
| 15 | 2011 | Qatar | Japan | Australia | 1–0 (a.e.t.) |
| 16 | 2015 | Australia | Australia | South Korea | 2–1 (a.e.t.) |
| 17 | 2019 | United Arab Emirates | TBD | TBD | |
| 18 | 2023 | China or South Korea | TBD | TBD |