2023 AFC Asian Cup Group E

Group E of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup took place from 15 to 25 January 2024.[1] The group consisted of South Korea, Malaysia, Jordan and Bahrain.[2] The top two teams, Bahrain and South Korea, along with third-placed Jordan (as one of the four best third-placed teams), advanced to the round of 16.

Teams

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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
E1   South Korea EAFF Second round Group H winners 9 June 2021 15th 2019 Winners (1956, 1960) 27 23
E2   Malaysia AFF Third round Group E runners-up 14 June 2022 4th 2007 Group stage (1976, 1980, 2007) 138 130
E3   Jordan WAFF Third round Group A winners 14 June 2022 5th 2019 Quarter-finals (2004, 2011) 84 87
E4   Bahrain WAFF Third round Group E winners 14 June 2022 7th 2019 Fourth place (2004) 85 86

Notes

  1. ^ The rankings of April 2023 were used for seeding for the final draw.

Standings

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Bahrain 3 2 0 1 3 3 0 6 Advance to knockout stage
2   South Korea 3 1 2 0 8 6 +2 5
3   Jordan 3 1 1 1 6 3 +3 4
4   Malaysia 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Matches

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South Korea vs Bahrain

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This was the fourth time South Korea faced Bahrain in a competitive AFC Asian Cup fixture. Their most recent encounter happened in 2019, where South Korea claimed a hard-fought 2–1 win; all three previous Asian Cup encounters ended by the same scoreline, with Bahrain claiming one win—in 2007—while South Korea won two others, in 2011 and 2019.

The match started with great difficulties for the South Koreans due to Bahrain's aggressive efforts, which saw South Korea receive three yellow cards. However, South Korea managed to regroup and re-applied pressure against Bahrain. In the 38th minute, following a foul from Ali Madan, Park Yong-woo quickly provided a long-range pass to Lee Jae-sung before he gave a low pass toward Hwang In-beom, who then struck Bahrain's net despite frantic efforts by Bahraini defenders. In the second half, Bahrain surprisingly gave a quick response in the 51st minute; a brilliant high pass from Madan gave the ball to Mohamed Marhoon, whose shot got deflected by Jung Seung-hyun to Abdullah Al-Hashash, as he didn't miss the opportunity to equalise. Five minutes later, attempt to clear the ball from defender Mohamed Adel resulted in the ball instead given to Kim Min-jae, who then sent the ball to Lee Kang-in before Lee himself delivered a thunderous shot to restore South Korea's lead. Lee then finished the game in the 68th minute when Mohamed Al-Hardan mishandled the ball to Son Heung-min, who then passed to Hwang In-beom before Hwang sent it to Lee Kang-in, who then gave a clinical finish to the bottom right corner of Ebrahim Lutfalla.

This was the first time South Korea managed to defeat Bahrain with more than one-goal margin, with all three previous meetings all ended with one-goal difference.

South Korea  3–1  Bahrain
Report
Attendance: 8,388
Referee: Ma Ning (China)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
South Korea
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bahrain
GK 1 Kim Seung-gyu
RB 22 Seol Young-woo
CB 15 Jung Seung-hyun
CB 4 Kim Min-jae   13'   72'
LB 2 Lee Ki-je   28'   52'
RM 18 Lee Kang-in
CM 6 Hwang In-beom
CM 5 Park Yong-woo   9'   82'
LM 10 Lee Jae-sung   82'
CF 7 Son Heung-min (c)   90+4'
CF 9 Cho Gue-sung   61'   72'
Substitutions:
DF 23 Kim Tae-hwan   52'
DF 19 Kim Young-gwon   72'
MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok   72'
MF 16 Park Jin-seop   82'
MF 17 Jeong Woo-yeong   82'
Manager:
  Jürgen Klinsmann
GK 22 Ebrahim Lutfalla
RB 18 Mohamed Adel   72'
CB 2 Amine Benaddi   46'
CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c)
LB 19 Hazza Ali
CM 13 Moses Atede   45'   65'
CM 6 Mohamed Al-Hardan
CM 8 Mohamed Marhoon
RF 7 Ali Madan   31'   82'
CF 14 Abdullah Al-Hashash   66'
LF 10 Kamil Al-Aswad
Substitutions:
DF 4 Sayed Baqer   46'
MF 24 Jasim Khelaif   65'
FW 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal   66'
MF 20 Mahdi Al-Humaidan   72'
MF 25 Ibrahim Al-Wali   82'
Manager:
  Juan Antonio Pizzi

Man of the Match:
Lee Kang-in (South Korea)

Assistant referees:
Zhou Fei (China)
Zhang Cheng (China)
Fourth official:
Yusuke Araki (Japan)
Reserve assistant referee:
Takumi Takagi (Japan)
Video assistant referee:
Fu Ming (China)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Malaysia vs Jordan

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This was the first time Malaysia faced Jordan in the AFC Asian Cup finals. Their latest competitive meeting was at the 1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where Malaysia and Jordan were held to a goalless draw. Jordan have been undefeated to Malaysia nor even conceded a goal.

The match was quickly dominated by Jordan over an inexperienced Malaysian side and they soon overpowered Malaysia when Yazan Al-Naimat produced a backheel for Mahmoud Al-Mardi, who then curved the ball into Malaysia's net in the 12th minute. Six minutes later, things became even better for Jordan when Malaysia's captain Matthew Davies committed a foul on Al-Naimat in the penalty area before Musa Al-Taamari converted it to double Jordan's lead. In the 32th minute, it was Al-Taamari who again capitalised from his team's counterattack in Malaysia's left bank to pass to Al-Naimat, who then overcame Syihan Hazmi before sending it for Al-Mardi to secure his poker. Despite Malaysia's improvement in the second half, Malaysia ended up not just failing to score, but even in a failed offensive, Musa Al-Taamari added to his credential from a long pass before flicking over Hazmi to secure Jordan's big win.

Jordan once again defeated Malaysia effortedly to remain undefeated and did not concede a goal.

Malaysia  0–4  Jordan
Report


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malaysia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jordan
GK 16 Syihan Hazmi
CB 2 Matthew Davies (c)
CB 15 Junior Eldstål
CB 21 Dion Cools
RM 12 Arif Aiman Hanapi   63'
CM 20 Afiq Fazail   80'
CM 8 Stuart Wilkin
LM 22 La'Vere Corbin-Ong
RF 7 Faisal Halim   80'
CF 9 Darren Lok   46'
LF 26 Romel Morales   63'
Substitutions:
DF 3 Shahrul Saad   46'
MF 17 Paulo Josué   63'
FW 19 Akhyar Rashid   63'
FW 13 Mohamadou Sumareh   80'
FW 11 Safawi Rasid   80'
Manager:
  Kim Pan-gon
GK 1 Yazid Abu Layla
RB 23 Ihsan Haddad (c)   67'
CB 3 Abdallah Nasib
CB 5 Yazan Al-Arab
LB 17 Salem Al-Ajalin
CM 21 Nizar Al-Rashdan   45+1'   67'
CM 8 Noor Al-Rawabdeh
RW 10 Musa Al-Taamari   89'
AM 9 Ali Olwan
LW 13 Mahmoud Al-Mardi   35'
CF 11 Yazan Al-Naimat   67'
Substitutions:
DF 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish   35'
MF 14 Rajaei Ayed   67'
DF 16 Feras Shelbaieh   67'
MF 25 Anas Al-Awadat   67'
FW 20 Hamza Al-Dardour   89'
Manager:
  Hussein Ammouta

Man of the Match:
Mahmoud Al-Mardi (Jordan)

Assistant referees:
Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)
Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates)
Fourth official:
Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)
Reserve assistant referee:
Khalaf Al-Shammari (Saudi Arabia)
Video assistant referee:
Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

Jordan vs South Korea

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This was the second Asian Cup finals encounter between Jordan and South Korea; their only Asian Cup meeting was in 2004 where Jordan shocked South Korea with a goalless draw. The last time the two met each other in any competitive fixtures occurred during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, which South Korea gained a first-ever win over Jordan 1–0 away; despite this, South Korea remained undefeated to Jordan with three wins and two draws.

South Korea quickly applied pressure and an unnecessary foul from Ihsan Haddad to Son Heung-min at the fifth minute resulted in a penalty after a lengthy VAR consultation; Son didn't miss the opportunity to convert it to goal. However, this goal ended up triggering the Jordanian fightback and it was Jordan, not South Korea, that applied pressure. In one such attempt at the 37th minute, a corner kick by the Jordanians resulted in Park Yong-woo (who was being pressured by Yazan Al-Arab) scoring an own goal to equalise the match. To make it better for Jordan, before the end of the first half, at the sixth minute of extra time, Musa Al-Taamari produced a solo; despite his shot was being prevented by Jung Seung-hyun, it deflected wide enough for Yazan Al-Naimat to take the volley and give Jordan a shock lead. At the second half, Jordan's organised defence proved to be highly effective as South Korea could not find the back of the net, but when the match came to extra time, Son Heung-min managed to sneak into Jordanian penalty area, providing a pass to Hwang In-beom, whose shot later hit the foot of Al-Arab before deflecting to Yazid Abu Layla's net, confirming the result to a thrilling draw.

This result meant South Korea remained undefeated to Jordan after six meetings, yet South Korea had not defeated Jordan in both Asian Cup meetings, while Jordan missed out another opportunity to produce a shock result after their neighbour Iraq shocked Japan a day earlier.

Jordan  2–2  South Korea
Report
Attendance: 36,627
Referee: Salman Falahi (Qatar)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jordan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
South Korea
GK 1 Yazid Abu Layla
RB 23 Ihsan Haddad (c)   8'
CB 3 Abdallah Nasib
CB 5 Yazan Al-Arab   29'
LB 17 Salem Al-Ajalin
RM 10 Musa Al-Taamari   18'
CM 21 Nizar Al-Rashdan   84'
CM 14 Rajaei Ayed   74'
LM 13 Mahmoud Al-Mardi   74'
CF 9 Ali Olwan
CF 11 Yazan Al-Naimat   84'
Substitutions:
DF 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish   74'
MF 26 Fadi Awad   74'
MF 15 Ibrahim Sadeh   84'
MF 25 Anas Al-Awadat   84'
Manager:
  Hussein Ammouta
GK 21 Jo Hyeon-woo
RB 22 Seol Young-woo
CB 15 Jung Seung-hyun
CB 4 Kim Min-jae
LB 2 Lee Ki-je   46'
RM 18 Lee Kang-in
CM 5 Park Yong-woo   46'
CM 6 Hwang In-beom   28'   90+4'
LM 10 Lee Jae-sung   69'
CF 7 Son Heung-min (c)
CF 9 Cho Gue-sung   69'
Substitutions:
MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok   46'
DF 23 Kim Tae-hwan   46'
FW 20 Oh Hyeon-gyu   90+5'   69'
MF 17 Jeong Woo-yeong   69'
MF 16 Park Jin-seop   90+4'
Manager:
  Jürgen Klinsmann

Man of the Match:
Son Heung-min (South Korea)

Assistant referees:
Taleb Al-Marri (Qatar)
Saoud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar)
Fourth official:
Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)
Reserve assistant referee:
Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)
Video assistant referee:
Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

Bahrain vs Malaysia

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Bahrain and Malaysia met each other shortly after their recent meeting during the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification. Malaysia won just two in 12 previous meetings, but Bahrain dominated in all competitive fixtures with an undefeated record, including the most recent 2–1 win in the same Asian Cup qualification.

The match was largely a dull affair as neither Bahrain or Malaysia proved to be the better side for most of the game, until the fifth minute of the second half's extra time, when from a corner kick, the ball was deflected to Ali Madan, who then unleashed his long-range shot at the surprise of the Malaysians as Syihan Hazmi failed to clear out despite having his hand slightly touching the ball, resulting in the only goal of the match at death.

With this result, Malaysia failed to advance past the group stage of an AFC Asian Cup again after four appearances, while they were also struggling to find their first Asian Cup win since 1980 (2–0 against the United Arab Emirates).

Bahrain  1–0  Malaysia
Report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bahrain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malaysia
GK 22 Ebrahim Lutfalla
RB 18 Mohamed Adel
CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c)
CB 4 Sayed Baqer
LB 19 Hazza Ali   79'
CM 6 Mohamed Al-Hardan
CM 13 Moses Atede   55'
RW 7 Ali Madan
AM 10 Kamil Al-Aswad   45+1'   71'
LW 8 Mohamed Marhoon   70'
CF 14 Abdullah Al-Hashash   55'
Substitutions:
MF 15 Jasim Al-Shaikh   55'
FW 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal   55'
FW 20 Mahdi Al-Humaidan   70'
MF 12 Ali Hassan Isa   71'
DF 23 Abdullah Al-Khalasi   79'
Manager:
  Juan Antonio Pizzi
GK 16 Syihan Hazmi
CB 6 Dominic Tan
CB 3 Shahrul Saad   52'
CB 21 Dion Cools
RWB 2 Matthew Davies (c)
LWB 22 La'Vere Corbin-Ong
RM 12 Arif Aiman Hanapi   75'
CM 14 Syamer Kutty Abba   19'   46'
CM 8 Stuart Wilkin
LM 7 Faisal Halim   84'
CF 17 Paulo Josué   75'
Substitutions:
MF 24 Natxo Insa   46'
FW 19 Akhyar Rashid   75'
FW 26 Romel Morales   75'
FW 13 Mohamadou Sumareh   84'
Manager:
  Kim Pan-gon

Man of the Match:
Ali Madan (Bahrain)

Assistant referees:
Abu Bakar Al-Amri (Oman)
Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman)
Fourth official:
Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq)
Reserve assistant referee:
Ahmed Al-Baghdadi (Iraq)
Video assistant referee:
Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Shaun Evans (Australia)

South Korea vs Malaysia

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South Korea faced Malaysia for the first time since their last meeting during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification in June 1989, which South Korea won 3–0. In term of Asian Cup finals encounter however, Malaysia held South Korea to a 1–1 draw back in 1980.

South Korea got off to a dream start when Jeong Woo-yeong came out better in a corner, whose header saw the ball cross the line despite Syihan Hazmi's effort to give South Korea the lead at the 21st minute after VAR intervened. However, Malaysia put up a shock fightback at the early part of the second half; first, a clumsy defending by Hwang In-beom saw the ball intercepted by Darren Lok, who then gave Arif Aiman Hanapi before providing to Faisal Halim, after which he successfully soloed over the South Korean defence and Jo Hyeon-woo to hook the ball home. Then, another poor defending from Seol Young-woo saw him foul Arif Aiman at the 58th minute, which VAR again intervened, before Arif himself converted to give Malaysia the shock lead four minutes later. In the 83rd minute however, Lee Kang-in pounced on the ball brilliantly from a set-piece, which hit Syihan before deflecting into Malaysia's net. Drama came at added time when at the first minute, from Hwang Hee-chan's horizontal delivery, Oh Hyeon-gyu was fouled by Junior Eldstål, which resulted in a penalty after VAR once again intervened, allowing Son Heung-min to convert from the spot. But as the Koreans were about to top the table, Malaysia left the last mark in the match when from another failure to clear out by the South Korean defence, ball was given to Paulo Josué before his clinical pass for fellow South American Romel Morales allowed Morales to seal the deal with a low shot to the left corner to end the match to a manic draw.

Despite not winning a single match and were firmly eliminated before this encounter, the 3–3 draw meant Malaysia got their first point in the AFC Asian Cup since 1980, the last time they qualified not as a host country. For South Korea, they once again failed to win against Malaysia at the AFC Asian Cup (drawn two), and because of Bahrain's 1–0 win over Jordan, South Korea failed to top the group table for the first time since 2011.

South Korea  3–3  Malaysia
Report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
South Korea
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malaysia
GK 21 Jo Hyeon-woo
RB 23 Kim Tae-hwan
CB 19 Kim Young-gwon
CB 4 Kim Min-jae
LB 22 Seol Young-woo   75'
CM 6 Hwang In-beom   62'
CM 17 Jeong Woo-yeong   75'
RW 18 Lee Kang-in
AM 7 Son Heung-min (c)
LW 10 Lee Jae-sung   19'   90+11'
CF 9 Cho Gue-sung   62'
Substitutions:
FW 11 Hwang Hee-chan   62'
MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok   62'
DF 3 Kim Jin-su   75'
FW 20 Oh Hyeon-gyu   75'
MF 5 Park Yong-woo   90+11'
Manager:
  Jürgen Klinsmann
GK 16 Syihan Hazmi
CB 3 Shahrul Saad
CB 21 Dion Cools (c)
CB 6 Dominic Tan   84'
RM 4 Daniel Ting
CM 18 Brendan Gan   90+11'
CM 8 Stuart Wilkin
LM 22 La'Vere Corbin-Ong
AM 12 Arif Aiman Hanapi   84'
AM 7 Faisal Halim   84'
CF 9 Darren Lok   73'
Substitutions:
FW 17 Paulo Josué   73'
MF 14 Syamer Kutty Abba   84'
DF 15 Junior Eldstål   84'
FW 19 Akhyar Rashid   84'
FW 26 Romel Morales   90+11'
Manager:
  Kim Pan-gon

Man of the Match:
Son Heung-min (South Korea)

Assistant referees:
Zaid Al-Shammari (Saudi Arabia)
Yasir Al-Sultan (Saudi Arabia)
Fourth official:
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Reserve assistant referee:
Watheq Al-Swaiedi (Iraq)
Video assistant referee:
Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Mohammed Al Hoish (Saudi Arabia)

Jordan vs Bahrain

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This was the two's first competitive encounter since the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, where both teams gained a win each. The two teams' most recent meeting was in a friendly in 2021, where Jordan won 2–1. This was also the first Asian Cup meetings between the two.

In a match where Bahrain needed to secure at least a point against already qualified Jordan, the Jordanians were the ones to make stronger start. However, as Jordan were trying to find the goal, they were punished from a counterattack at the 34th minute from a brilliant defending effort by the Bahrainis, which saw Ali Madan provide a clinical gift for Abdulla Yusuf Helal, who then sprinted into the net of Yazid Abu Layla before scoring at the bottom left corner. The goal turned out to be the only goal of the match, as both teams' rather dull performances meant Bahrain secured the win.

With this result, combined with South Korea's dropping two points to a shock draw to Malaysia at the same time, it was the first time ever in Bahrain's Asian Cup history that they managed to win two group stage matches and topped the group stage table.

Jordan  0–1  Bahrain
Report Helal   34'
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jordan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bahrain
GK 1 Yazid Abu Layla
CB 3 Abdallah Nasib
CB 19 Anas Bani Yaseen (c)
CB 17 Salem Al-Ajalin   56'   85'
RM 16 Feras Shelbaieh
CM 26 Fadi Awad
CM 14 Rajaei Ayed   74'
LM 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish
AM 24 Yousef Abu Jalboush   85'
AM 9 Ali Olwan   67'   74'
CF 11 Yazan Al-Naimat   74'
Substitutions:
MF 15 Ibrahim Sadeh   74'
MF 25 Anas Al-Awadat   74'
FW 20 Hamza Al-Dardour   74'
DF 4 Bara' Marei   85'
MF 18 Saleh Rateb   85'
Manager:
  Hussein Ammouta
GK 22 Ebrahim Lutfalla
RB 18 Mohamed Adel   81'
CB 4 Sayed Baqer
CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c)
LB 23 Abdullah Al-Khalasi
CM 6 Mohamed Al-Hardan   81'
CM 15 Jasim Al-Shaikh
RW 7 Ali Madan   62'
AM 10 Kamil Al-Aswad   63'
LW 8 Mohamed Marhoon   71'
CF 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal
Substitutions:
MF 16 Mohammed Abdul Qayoom   62'
FW 20 Mahdi Al-Humaidan   63'
MF 11 Ebrahim Al-Khattal   71'
MF 25 Ibrahim Al-Wali   81'
DF 26 Hussain Al-Eker   81'
Manager:
  Juan Antonio Pizzi

Man of the Match:
Abdulla Yusuf Helal (Bahrain)

Assistant referees:
Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)
Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates)
Fourth official:
Ma Ning (China)
Reserve assistant referee:
Zhou Fei (China)
Video assistant referee:
Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

Discipline

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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
                                   
  South Korea 5 2 1 –8
  Malaysia 2 –2
  Jordan 1 3 2 –6
  Bahrain 2 1 –3

References

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  1. ^ ""Match Schedule – AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023"" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  2. ^ "#AsianCup2023 Groups Finalised". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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