Since the foundation of the AFC Asian Cup was founded in 1956, Qatar has participated in ten Asian Cups between 1980 and 2023. However, prior to the 2019 edition, Qatar only reached the quarter-finals twice, once in 2000 Asian Cup as one of the two best third-place teams when the tournament had only 12 nations competing, and in 2011, when they finished second in Group A behind Uzbekistan.
In the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Qatar, who was the first team to qualify aside from hosts United Arab Emirates, exceeded expectations. Before the 2019 Asian Cup, they last won a game outside Qatar in the 1984 Asian Cup, when Singapore hosted the tournament.
In 2019, Qatar won its first six games, as many games as they had won in the previous nine editions, and conceded zero goals. In the knock-out stage, they defeated Iraq, South Korea, and United Arab Emirates before defeating Japan 3–1 in the final to win the Asian Cup for the first time, which has become Qatar's greatest achievement to date, compared to several Gulf rivals like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq.
In 2023, Qatar won all of its matches in the 2023 Asian Cup group stages, and also conceded zero goals. In the knock-out stage, they faced Palestine, Uzbekistan, and Iran, meeting Jordan in the final beating them 3–1 with Akram Afif scoring a hat-trick of penalties, becoming back-to-back Asian Cup champions.
Qatar has hosted the tournament twice, first for the 1988 Asian Cup and also for the 2011 Asian Cup. The 2011 edition was seen as a step for Qatar in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which was to be hosted in the country.
Qatar also recently hosted the 2023 Asian Cup where they won on home soil.
Record AFC Asian Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPositionSquad 1956Protectorate of Protectorate of 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976Did not qualify621358 1980Group stage8th411238Squad4310102 19845th412133Squad4301111 1988420276SquadQualified as hosts 19926th302134Squad220082 1996Did not qualify420254 2000Quarter-finals8th403135Squad4310113 2004Group stage14th301224Squad6321107 2007302134Squad6501144 2011Quarter-finals7th420275SquadQualified as hosts 2015Group stage13th300327Squad6411132 2019Champions 1st7700191Squad8701294 2023Champions7610145Squad8710181 2027Qualified6510183Total2 Titles12/14461912156652—644681016340
1980 edition
Group B
1984 edition
Group A
1988 edition
Group A
1992 edition
Group B
2000 edition
Group C
Quarter-finals
2004 edition
Group A
2007 edition
Group B
2011 edition
Group A
7 January 20110–212 January 20110–216 January 20113–0
Quarter-finals
2015 edition
Group C
11 January 2015 4–1 Canberra Stadium, Canberra15 January 2015 0–1 Stadium Australia, Sydney19 January 2015 1–2 Stadium Australia, Sydney
2019 edition
Group E
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
2023 edition
Group A
Knockout stage
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
See also Qatar at the CONCACAF Gold Cup Qatar at the Copa América Qatar at the FIFA World Cup
References
Head-to-head record OpponentWin %Total