When it comes to football in the Asian continent, there’s one tournament that we all look forward to every four years. It’s the AFC Asian Cup which began way back in 1956, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The quadrennial competition has improved from having 4 participating nations per edition to a record 24 teams in the latest edition in 2024.
The tournament is contested between members of the AFC and currently, there are 47 member nations, and the top ones qualify to the main competition. After Copa America, this is the oldest continental football championship in the world which used to have a round robin league format in the first few editions, but then moved to being a group + knockout stage situation.
From 2007 onwards, Australia joined the confederation and has been a member nation since then. The first ever AFC Asian Cup was hosted by Hong Kong in 1956 where only four teams took part. South Korea won that tournament and Israel ended as the runners-up. See below for our AFC Asian Cup all winners list, last updated 21st January 2024), during the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.
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As of date, the most successful team in the AFC Asian Cup history is Japan who qualified for the first time only in 1988 but since then, they’ve gone on to win 4 championship titles, including winning 3 out of 4 tournaments between 1992 and 2004. Saudi Arabia and Iran are the next most successful nations here, winning the competition on three occasions each.
All AFC Asian Cup winners list
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Hosts | Final score |
| 1956 | South Korea 🇰🇷 | Israel | Hong Kong | Round robin tournament |
| 1960 | South Korea (2) 🇰🇷 | Israel | South Korea | Round robin tournament |
| 1964 | Israel 🇮🇱 | India | Israel | Round robin tournament |
| 1968 | Iran 🇮🇷 | Burma | Iran | Round robin tournament |
| 1972 | Iran (2) 🇮🇷 | South Korea | Thailand | 2-1 (extra time) |
| 1976 | Iran (3) 🇮🇷 | Kuwait | Iran | 1-0 |
| 1980 | Kuwait 🇰🇼 | South Korea | Kuwait | 3-0 |
| 1984 | Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 | China | Singapore | 2-0 |
| 1988 | Saudi Arabia (2) 🇸🇦 | South Korea | Qatar | 0-0 (extra time) | 4-3 penalties |
| 1992 | Japan 🇯🇵 | Saudi Arabia | Japan | 1-0 |
| 1996 | Saudi Arabia (3) 🇸🇦 | UAE | UAE | 0-0 (extra time) | 4-2 penalties |
| 2000 | Japan (2) 🇯🇵 | Saudi Arabia | Lebanon | 1-0 |
| 2004 | Japan (3) 🇯🇵 | China | China | 3-1 |
| 2007 | Iraq 🇮🇶 | Saudi Arabia | Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam | 1-0 |
| 2011 | Japan (4) 🇯🇵 | Australia | Qatar | 1-0 (extra time) |
| 2015 | Australia 🇦🇺 | South Korea | Australia | 2-1 (extra time) |
| 2019 | Qatar 🇶🇦 | Japan | UAE | 3-1 |
| 2023 | TBD | TBD | Qatar | TBD |
| 2027 | TBD | TBD | Saudi Arabia | TBD |
| TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Iran happens to be the only team to have won the tournament three consecutive times, doing so between 1968-1976. On the other hand, the most consistent teams in the competition’s history are South Korea as well as Saudi Arabia, who have reach the AFC Asian Cup finals on 6 occasions each, and the former having a slightly better conversion rate in finals.
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The first four editions of the tournament were only round robin tournaments, with a maximum of 5 participants in each of these events. At the time, India managed to get their best result in this competition, finishing runner-up in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup. In terms of goals scored in 90 minutes, the highest scoring final was 3-1 which happened twice (Japan vs China – 2004 and Qatar vs Japan – 2019).
Who will win the AFC Asian Cup 2023?#AFCON2023 #AFCON2024 #AsianCup2023
— Read Scoops (@ReadScoops) January 21, 2024
South Korea also has the most podium finishes in the competition (10), including 2 gold medals, and 4 silver and bronze medals each. We’re expecting more entries into the confederation over time, which means more entries into the AFC Asian Cup all winners list over time. For more updates from the AFC Asian Cup and other football and sporting competitions from around the world, please remember to always stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
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