As the host of the 2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup was confirmed to be Saudi Arabia, we saw the ‘Middle East Feast’ for the third time in a row. The balance of Asian football is leaning sharply toward West Asia, with ‘oil money’ at the forefront.
At the 33rd General Assembly held in Manama, Bahrain on the 1st (Korean time), the AFC announced that “Saudi Arabia was finally selected as the host of the 2027 Asian Cup.” Saudi Arabia is hosting the tournament for the first time ever.
The Asian Cup, which has been held every four years since its inception in 1956, is the most prestigious tournament in Asia. Originally, India, Iran, Qatar and Uzbekistan announced plans to host it in 2027. However, they withdrew one by one, and Saudi Arabia, which remained as the only candidate, was selected as the host.
With this, the Asian Cup will be held in the Middle East for the third time in a row. Prior to the 18th tournament held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2019, in October last year, the AFC selected Qatar as the venue for the 19th tournament in 2023.
At the time, Qatar fought a two-way battle with South Korea as China returned the hosting rights due to the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and a re-vote was held. It gained votes by actively appealing for having the latest infrastructure and promising to invest huge amounts of capital. 안전놀이터
Meanwhile, Japan (four times) is the country that has won the most Asian Cups ever. Qatar won the most recent tournament. South Korea has not yet had a trophy since winning two consecutive championships in 1956 and 1960.