The2027 AFC Asian Cup will be the 19th edition of theAFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men'sfootball championship ofAsia organised by theAsian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament will involve 24 national teams after the expansion in2019. It will be held inSaudi Arabia from 7 January to 5 February 2027.[1][2]
The tournament will return to its usual four-year cycle, after the2023 edition was postponed to 2024 due to the removal ofChina as hosts and high summer temperatures inQatar.
AFC confirmed the list of member associations expressed their interests to host 2027 Asian Cup before the 30 June 2020 deadline,[3] and they gave their necessary letters of undertaking in November.[4] On 17 October 2022, the AFC Executive Committee announced that the host of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup would be chosen by the AFC Congress at its next meeting on 1 February 2023 inManama,Bahrain.[5][6] However,India, one of the last two bidders, withdrew on 5 December[7] leaving Saudi Arabia as the only remaining bidder. On 1 February, the AFC confirmed that Saudi Arabia won the bid and will host the tournament for the first time.[1]
The first two rounds of qualification acted as part of theAsian qualification for the2026 FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia, which received automatic qualification for the Asian Cup as host, also participated in the qualifiers to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.[9]
TheNorthern Mariana Islands, whose football association became the 47th full AFC member during the confederation's 30th Congress on 9 December 2020,[10] was only eligible to enter the qualification tournament for the Asian Cup, but was ultimately excluded.[11]
Two nations from the previousedition failed to qualify—India andHong Kong. Both of these teams were eliminated by Singapore after failing to win thethird round's Group C.Iran meanwhile extended their qualification record; this was their sixteenth straight appearance in the tournament, having qualified for every edition since1968.