Kuwait is one of the most successful teams in the AFC Asian Cup, having won the title once, during the 1980 edition which they were awarded as host, becoming the first Arab team to win the Asian Cup.
During 1970s to 2000s, Kuwait had risen from a normal, unknown to become one of Asia's most prestigious teams and Kuwait was regarded for having a group of golden generation that would facilitate and develop football among the Arab Persian Gulf states. Kuwait had also qualified for the FIFA World Cup once, in 1982, thanked for the success in Asian Cup. Kuwait remained a powerful team until 2004, when they were surprisingly knocked out from the group stage. Since then, Kuwait's strength has started to diminish slowly, and although had qualified for 2011 and 2015, Kuwait didn't win any matches. Kuwait was even excluded for 2019 edition, due to FIFA's sanctions over Government's interference.
Kuwait's Asian Cup record AFC Asian Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPosition* 1956Did not enterDid not enter 1960 1964 1968WithdrewWithdrew 1972Group stage5th320145311133 1976Runners-up2nd430163Qualified by default 1980Champions1st6411136Qualified as hosts 1984Third place3rd622254Qualified as defending champions 1988Group stage7th403123431090 1992Did not qualify210143 1996Fourth place4th6 2 2 2 9 7422095 2000Quarter-finals6th4 1 2 1 3 34400331 2004Group stage10th3 1 0 2 3 76510175Did not qualify411234 2011Group stage14th3 0 0 3 1 7 623165 2015Group stage15th3 0 0 3 1 6 6231107 2019Disqualified83141210 2023Did not qualify115242413 2027Qualified621366TotalBest: Champions11/1942 15 10 17 47 5166 32 17 17 139 63
Head-to-head record OpponentWin %Total
1972 edition in Thailand
Group allocation match
Group B
1976 edition in Iran
Group A
Semi-finals
Final
1980 edition in Kuwait
Group B
Semi-finals
Final
1984 edition in Singapore
Group A
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
1988 edition in Qatar
Group B
1996 edition in the UAE
Group A
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
2000 edition in Lebanon
Group B
Quarter-finals
2004 edition in China
Group B
2011 edition in Qatar
Group A
8 January 20110–212 January 20112–116 January 20113–0
2015 edition in Australia
Group A
9 January 2015 4–1 AAMI Park, Melbourne13 January 2015 0–1 Canberra Stadium, Canberra17 January 2015 1–0 Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle
See also Kuwait at the FIFA World Cup
References