The Socceroos have copped a relatively tricky group as they bid to repeat their Asian Cup glory of 2015 – and avoid the disaster of 2019.
Australia will face Uzbekistan, Syria and India in the group stage in Qatar when the tournament is played across January-February 2024.
On seeding alone the group is one of the trickiest, with Uzbekistan (world ranking 74th) middle of the pack out of pot 2, but Syria (90th) the second-best team in pot 3 and India (101st) the best team in pot 4.
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Australia famously needed extra time to get past Syria during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Meanwhile Uzbekistan made it out of the groups in 2019 and took the Socceroos to penalties in the round of 16.
GROUPS
A: Qatar, China, Tajikistan, Lebanon
B: Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria, India
C: Iran, UAE, Hong Kong, Palestine
D: Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, Vietnam
E: South Korea, Malaysia, Jordan, Bahrain
F: Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Oman
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Qatar, as hosts, were placed in Pot 1 and will be automatically assigned to Group A – meaning they will play the opening game of the tournament on January 12.
Australia famously won the 2015 tournament on home soil, but fell flat as defending champions in 2019 despite being second highest ranked among the competitors.
The Socceroos struggled in the group stages that tournament, losing to Jordan before needing a stoppage-time goal from Tom Rogic to secure automatic qualification to the knockout stages.
Australia only progressed past Uzbekistan in the Round of 16 on penalties after the game was scoreless after both regular and added time, before losing 1-0 to United Arab Emirates in the quarterfinals.
This time around, the Aussies are again among the favourites, particularly on the back of their impressive success at the 2022 World Cup. Returning to the site of that best-ever World Cup showing, newly re-signed coach Graham Arnold will be hopeful of following in the footsteps of Ange Postecoglou by guiding the Socceroos to continental silverware.
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POT 1
Qatar (61) (hosts)
Japan (20)
Iran (24)
South Korea (27)
Australia (29)
Saudi Arabia (54)
POT 2
Iraq (67)
United Arab Emirates (72)
Oman (73)
Uzbekistan (74)
China (81)
Jordan (84)
POT 3
Bahrain (85)
Syria (90)
Palestine (93)
Vietnam (95)
Kyrgyzstan (96)
Lebanon (99)
POT 4
India (101)
Tajikistan (109)
Thailand (114)
Malaysia (138)
Hong Kong (147)
Indonesia (149)
THE TOURNAMENT
AFC president Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said the successful hosting of the 2022 World Cup by Qatar proves this Asian Cup will be: “a true spectacle never before experienced in Asian football history.”
“We have every faith that they will showcase their unrivalled hosting capabilities, state-of-the-art infrastructure and warm hospitality,” he added in a statement.
Six of the eight stadiums for the tournament hosted World Cup matches last year – Only the 80,000-seat Lusail, which hosted the World Cup final, and the temporary Stadium 974 comprised partially of shipping containers, will not be in use. Two smaller stadiums in Doha replace those two World Cup arenas.
The top two teams from the six groups proceed to the knockout stages, while the four best third-placed teams also reach the knockouts. The final takes place on February 10.