Group B of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup will take place from 13 to 23 January 2024.[1] The group consists of Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria and India.[2]
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Zone | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2023[nb 1] | December 2023 | ||||||||
| B1 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | AFF | Second round Group B winners | 11 June 2021 | 5th | 2019 | Winners (2015) | 29 | 25 |
| B2 |  Uzbekistan | CAFA | Third round Group C winners | 14 June 2022 | 8th | 2019 | Fourth place (2011) | 74 | 68 |
| B3 |  Syria | WAFF | Second round Group A winners | 7 June 2021 | 7th | 2019 | Group stage (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011, 2019) | 90 | 91 |
| B4 |  India | SAFF | Third round Group D winners | 14 June 2022 | 5th | 2019 | Runners-up (1964) | 101 | 102 |
Notes
- ↑ The rankings of April 2023 were used for seeding for the final draw.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Syria |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | |
| 3 | Uzbekistan |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | Possible knockout stage |
| 4 | India |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
Matches
Australia vs India
This was the first time in 13 years that these two teams faced each other as their last meeting was way back in 2011 also in the Asian Cup which saw the Australia beat India with a scoreline of 4–0. Australia haven't lost to India in 68 years.
After a scoreless first half, a reckless attempt to punch the ball away from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saw the ball intercepted by Jackson Irvine, who scored Australia's opening goal to break the deadlock despite Gurpreet's effort to block it in the 50th minute. At the 72th minute, Riley McGree pulled a phase to overcome Lalengmawia Ralte before delivering the decisive pass for Jordan Bos, who then scored in the almost empty net to secure Australia's 2–0 win.
In personal record, this was the first time Graham Arnold won the opener of a competitive tournament as coach of Australia, having lost two (1–0 to Jordan in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and 4–1 to France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup) and drawn one (1–1 to Oman in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup).
         Australia
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    India
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Man of the Match:
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Uzbekistan vs Syria
Both these teams met each other just for the second time in this competition, having met before in 1996 with Syria emerging as victorious among the two after a 2–1 win against Uzbekistan. Their recent fixture was a friendly in 2020 where the Syrians beat the Uzbeks 1–0 while their most recent competitive fixture, occurred during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, also ended with Syria won against Uzbekistan by the same scoreline.
The match was largely dominated by Uzbekistan, but neither Uzbekistan and Syria could score a goal in this match, with the closest attempt was the surprise goal of Ibrahim Hesar, which was later disallowed for offside.
| Uzbekistan | 0–0 | Syria |
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Man of the Match:
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Syria vs Australia
This will be the second straight match between these two teams as they also faced each other in the previous edition with Australia beating Syria 3–2 to send them through to the knockout stage and eliminate the Syrians. Syria never managed to beat their Southeast Asian counterpart in three past meetings.
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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India vs Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan never lost against India with their recent fixture being played 22 years ago as part of the 2001 Merdeka Tournament. In competitive fixture, the last time they met was in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where Uzbekistan beat India 3–2.
| India | Match 16 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Australia vs Uzbekistan
This will be the third time that these two teams will face each other in this tournament with their recent fixture being in the round of 16 of the last edition, which Australia beat the Uzbekistan in a penalty-shootout after a scoreless draw to send the Australians into the last eight and eliminate the Uzbeks. Australia never lost against Uzbekistan in all four previous encounters, all matches between the two have been competitive.
| Australia | Match 27 | Uzbekistan |
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Syria vs India
The recent fixture between these two teams was way back in 2019 when they ended in a 1–1 draw during the 2019 Intercontinental Cup. Syria managed to defeat India on just two occasions, whilst India haven't lost against Syria in 15 years. However, this is just the first time Syria and India to face each other in any competitive fixture.
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Discipline
Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:
- first yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −3 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −4 points;
Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | |||||||||
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| Australia |
0 | ||||||||||||
| Uzbekistan |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
| Syria |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
| India |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
References
- ↑ ""Match Schedule – AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023"" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ↑ "#AsianCup2023 Groups Finalised". the-AFC. Retrieved 11 May 2023.