The 2019 AFC Cup final was the final match of the 2019 AFC Cup, the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The final was contested as a single match between April 25 from North Korea and Al-Ahed from Lebanon. The match was played at the Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on 4 November 2019.
Al-Ahed won 1–0 by a goal from Ghanaian player Issah Yakubu. This was Al-Ahed's first continental title, as well as the first for a Lebanese team. April 25 became the first North Korean men's football club to qualify for an Asian final, while Al-Ahed were the third Lebanese side to do so (after Nejmeh in 2005 and Safa in 2008).
Teams TeamZonePrevious finals appearances (bold indicates winners) April 25East Asia Zone (EAFF)(Inter-zone play-off winner)None Al-AhedWest Asia Zone (WAFF)None
Venue
The match was originally to be hosted by April 25 at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea on 2 November 2019. However, on 22 October 2019, due to North Korea's decision to ban television transmission of football games, the AFC announced that the final would be held in Shanghai, China in order for the match to be transmitted. On 25 October 2019, the match was rescheduled from 2 November to 4 November and the host city was shifted from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Road to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
April 25Round Al-AhedOpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResult Hang Yuen3–0 (A)Matchday 1 Al-Qadsia0–0 (H) Kitchee2–0 (H)Matchday 2 Malkiya0–0 (A) Tai Po3–1 (A)Matchday 3 Al-Suwaiq4–2 (H) Tai Po4–0 (H)Matchday 4 Al-Suwaiq1–0 (A) Hang Yuen5–0 (H)Matchday 5 Al-Qadsia1–0 (A) Kitchee0–1 (A)Matchday 6 Malkiya2–1 (H)Group I winnersFinal standingsGroup C winnersOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legKnockout stageOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg—Zonal semi-finals Al-Wehdat1–01–0 (A)0–0 (H)Zonal finals Al-Jazeera1–00–0 (A)1–0 (H) Abahani Limited Dhaka5–43–4 (A)2–0 (H)Inter-zone play-off semi-finals— Hà Nội2–2 (a)2–2 (A)0–0 (H)Inter-zone play-off final
Format The final was played as a single match, with the host team (winners of the Inter-zone play-off final) alternated from the previous season's final.
Should it tied after regulation time, extra time and, if necessary, penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winning team.
Match
Details
GK 23 An Tae-song RB 6 Kwon Chung-hyokCB 30 An Song-il ICB 5 Pak Jin-myongLB 29 Pak Song-rokRM 31 Choe Chol-su CM 15 Won SongCM 7 O Hyok-cholLM 14 Son Pyong-ilCF 13 Rim Chol-min (c) CF 10 An Il-bomSubstitutes:GK 1 Sin Tae-song DF 2 Jang Kum-namDF 17 An Song-il II MF 19 Yun Il-gwangMF 24 Choe Jong-hyokFW 18 Kim Yu-song FW 21 Jang HyokManager: O Yun-son GK 1 Mehdi KhalilRB 6 Hussein ZeinCB 4 Nour Mansour CB 2 Ahmad Al SalehLB 8 Hussein DakikCM 13 Issah YakubuCM 15 Haytham Faour (c) RW 20 Rabih Ataya AM 10 Mohamad HaidarLW 11 Ahmad ZreikCF 99 Ahmed Akaïchi Substitutes:GK 21 Mohamad HammoudGK 98 Hadi KhalilDF 5 Khalil KhamisMF 7 Hussein Monzer MF 14 Walid ShourMF 23 Ali HadidFW 30 Tarek El Ali Manager: Bassem Marmar
Man of the Match: Issah Yakubu (Al-Ahed) Assistant referees: Deniye Gedara Palitha Parakkrama Hemathunga (Sri Lanka) Wellabada Hewage Don Senjeewa Premalal (Sri Lanka) Fourth official: Omar Al-Yaqoubi (Oman) Fifth official: Abdullah Al-Jardani (Oman)Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if tied. Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used, with a fourth allowed in extra time.
See also 2019 AFC Champions League Final
References
External links , the-AFC.com AFC Cup 2019, stats.the-AFC.com