Breaking the crowd attendance record at the opening of the 2023 Asian Cup

The greatest edition in the history of the Asian Cup kicked off in a dazzling, festive way on Friday, with a record crowd attendance for the opening match, when host Qatar faced Lebanon in the opening of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.

The match witnessed the presence of 82,490 spectators, who gathered at Lusail International Stadium, where the defending champion Qatar team began the competition in the eighteenth edition of the continental championship by achieving a 3-0 victory over Lebanon.

This new number surpasses the previous figure of 40,000 set at the opening of the 2004 Asian Cup in the match between China and Bahrain, which ended in a 2-2 draw at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing.

Akram Afif (45 and 90 + 6) and Al-Moez Ali (56) scored the winning goals for the Qatari team, raising Al-Moez Ali’s tally to 10 goals in the history of the tournament, as he became equally second in the history of the Asian Cup’s all-time top scorers.

The match also witnessed the start of the application of the semi-automated offside system for the first time in the history of the AFC competitions, as the AFC became the first among the continental federations to implement this system. This system joined the video assistant referee technology, which is fully applied in all tournament matches for the first time in the history of the Asian Cup after it was applied as of the quarter-final matches in the last edition in 2019 in the Emirates.

The Asian Cup will be held in the State of Qatar for the third time, which is also a record, and the competition continues today, Saturday, with three matches, as Australia meets India at 2:30 pm at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, then China meets Tajikistan at 5:30 pm. Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium is in the first group, after which Uzbekistan will meet Syria at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium at 8:30 pm in the second group.