Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Local Organising Committee (LOC) yesterday confirmed that the opening and final match of the upcoming tournament will be played at one of the largest match venues ever in the event's history.
The iconic Lusail Stadium, which most recently staged the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 Final, will be hosting the first match between defending champions Qatar and Lebanon in Group A on Jan 12, 2024.
The Asian Cup will culminate with the final at the Lusail Stadium on Feb 10.
With a capacity of 88,000, the Lusail Stadium will be one of the largest match venues in AFC Asian Cup history behind Tehran's Aryamehr Stadium, which seated 100,000 spectators during the 1976 final between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kuwait, and the 88,083-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta that hosted seven matches in 2007.
The addition of the world-class Lusail Stadium, which hosted 10 World Cup matches, will elevate the match-going experience for the passionate Asian football fans in Doha as they get the opportunity to take in an architectural marvel that showcases the heritage and culture of Qatar, who are hosting the showpiece for a record third time.
The rest of the Asian Cup will take place at eight other stadiums, as confirmed in April, including the Al Bayt Stadium, which was the original venue for the first and final matches.
With the Lusail Stadium being confirmed as the ninth venue, and considering key functional areas such as transportation, venue and match operations as well as pitch playability, among others, further changes have been made to the official match schedule of the tournament.