Group E of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup took place from 15 to 25 January 2024. The group consisted of South Korea, Malaysia, Jordan and Bahrain. The top two teams, Bahrain and South Korea, along with third-placed Jordan (as one of the four best third-placed teams), advanced to the round of 16.
Teams Draw position Team Zone Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Finalsappearance Lastappearance Previous bestperformance FIFA Rankings April 2023 December 2023 E1 EAFF Second round Group H winners 9 June 2021 15th 2019 Winners (1956, 1960) 27 23 E2 AFF Third round Group E runners-up 14 June 2022 4th 2007 Group stage (1976, 1980, 2007) 138 130 E3 WAFF Third round Group A winners 14 June 2022 5th 2019 Quarter-finals (2004, 2011) 84 87 E4 WAFF Third round Group E winners 14 June 2022 7th 2019 Fourth place (2004) 85 86 Notes
Standings
Matches
South Korea vs Bahrain This was the fourth time South Korea faced Bahrain in a competitive AFC Asian Cup fixture. Their most recent encounter happened in 2019, where South Korea claimed a hard-fought 2–1 win; all three previous Asian Cup encounters ended by the same scoreline, with Bahrain claiming one win—in 2007—while South Korea won two others, in 2011 and 2019.
The match started with great difficulties for the South Koreans due to Bahrain's aggressive efforts, which saw South Korea receive three yellow cards. However, South Korea managed to regroup and re-applied pressure against Bahrain. In the 38th minute, following a foul from Ali Madan, Park Yong-woo quickly provided a long-range pass to Lee Jae-sung before he gave a low pass toward Hwang In-beom, who then struck Bahrain's net despite frantic efforts by Bahraini defenders. In the second half, Bahrain surprisingly gave a quick response in the 51st minute; a brilliant high pass from Madan gave the ball to Mohamed Marhoon, whose shot got deflected by Jung Seung-hyun to Abdullah Al-Hashash, as he didn't miss the opportunity to equalise. Five minutes later, attempt to clear the ball from defender Mohamed Adel resulted in the ball instead given to Kim Min-jae, who then sent the ball to Lee Kang-in before Lee himself delivered a thunderous shot to restore South Korea's lead. Lee then finished the game in the 68th minute when Mohamed Al-Hardan mishandled the ball to Son Heung-min, who then passed to Hwang In-beom before Hwang sent it to Lee Kang-in, who then gave a clinical finish to the bottom right corner of Ebrahim Lutfalla.
This was the first time South Korea managed to defeat Bahrain with more than one-goal margin, with all three previous meetings all ended with one-goal difference.
GK 1 Kim Seung-gyuRB 22Seol Young-wooCB 15Jung Seung-hyunCB 4 Kim Min-jae LB 2 Lee Ki-je CM 5 Park Yong-woo CM 6 Hwang In-beomRW 18Lee Kang-inAM 7 Son Heung-min (c) LW 10Lee Jae-sung CF 9 Cho Gue-sung Substitutions:DF 23Kim Tae-hwan DF 19Kim Young-gwon MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok MF 16Park Jin-seop MF 17Jeong Woo-yeong Manager: Jürgen Klinsmann GK 22Ebrahim LutfallaRB 18Mohamed Adel CB 2 Amine Benaddi CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c)LB 19Hazza AliCM 6 Mohamed Al-HardanCM 13Moses Atede RF 7 Ali Madan AM 10Kamil Al-AswadLW 8 Mohamed MarhoonCF 14Abdullah Al-Hashash Substitutions:DF 4 Sayed Baqer MF 24Jasim Khelaif FW 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal MF 20Mahdi Al-Humaidan MF 25Ibrahim Al-Wali Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi
Man of the Match: Lee Kang-in (South Korea)
Assistant referees: Zhou Fei (China) Zhang Cheng (China) Fourth official: Yusuke Araki (Japan) Reserve assistant referee: Takumi Takagi (Japan) Video assistant referee: Fu Ming (China) Assistant video assistant referees: Hanna Hattab (Syria)
Malaysia vs Jordan This was the first time Malaysia faced Jordan in the AFC Asian Cup finals. Their latest competitive meeting was at the 1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where Malaysia and Jordan were held to a goalless draw. Jordan have been undefeated to Malaysia nor even conceded a goal.
The match was quickly dominated by Jordan over an inexperienced Malaysian side and they soon overpowered Malaysia when Yazan Al-Naimat produced a backheel for Mahmoud Al-Mardi, who then curved the ball into Malaysia's net in the 12th minute. Six minutes later, things became even better for Jordan when Malaysia's captain Matthew Davies committed a foul on Al-Naimat in the penalty area before Musa Al-Taamari converted it to double Jordan's lead. In the 32th minute, it was Al-Taamari who again capitalised from his team's counterattack in Malaysia's left bank to pass to Al-Naimat, who then overcame Syihan Hazmi before sending it for Al-Mardi to secure his poker. Despite Malaysia's improvement in the second half, Malaysia ended up not just failing to score, but even in a failed offensive, Musa Al-Taamari added to his credential from a long pass before flicking over Hazmi to secure Jordan's big win.
Jordan once again defeated Malaysia effortedly to remain undefeated and did not concede a goal.
GK 16Syihan HazmiCB 2 Matthew Davies (c) CB 15Junior EldstålCB 21Dion CoolsRM 12Arif Aiman Hanapi CM 20Afiq Fazail CM 8 Stuart WilkinLM 22La'Vere Corbin-OngRF 7 Faisal Halim CF 9 Darren Lok LF 26Romel Morales Substitutions:DF 3 Shahrul Saad MF 17Paulo Josué FW 19Akhyar Rashid FW 13Mohamadou Sumareh FW 11Safawi Rasid Manager: Kim Pan-gon GK 1 Yazid Abu LaylaCB 3 Abdallah NasibCB 5 Yazan Al-ArabCB 17Salem Al-AjalinRM 23Ihsan Haddad (c) CM 21Nizar Al-Rashdan CM 8 Noor Al-RawabdehLM 13Mahmoud Al-Mardi RF 10Musa Al-Taamari CF 11Yazan Al-Naimat LF 9 Ali OlwanSubstitutions:DF 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish MF 14Rajaei Ayed DF 16Feras Shelbaieh MF 25Anas Al-Awadat FW 20Hamza Al-Dardour Manager: Hussein Ammouta
Man of the Match: Mahmoud Al-Mardi (Jordan)
Assistant referees: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates) Fourth official: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia) Reserve assistant referee: Khalaf Al-Shammari (Saudi Arabia) Video assistant referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates) Assistant video assistant referees: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)
Jordan vs South Korea This was the second Asian Cup finals encounter between Jordan and South Korea; their only Asian Cup meeting was in 2004 where Jordan shocked South Korea with a goalless draw. The last time the two met each other in any competitive fixtures occurred during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, which South Korea gained a first-ever win over Jordan 1–0 away; despite this, South Korea remained undefeated to Jordan with three wins and two draws.
South Korea quickly applied pressure and an unnecessary foul from Ihsan Haddad to Son Heung-min at the fifth minute resulted in a penalty after a lengthy VAR consultation; Son didn't miss the opportunity to convert it to goal. However, this goal ended up triggering the Jordanian fightback and it was Jordan, not South Korea, that applied pressure. In one such attempt at the 37th minute, a corner kick by the Jordanians resulted in Park Yong-woo (who was being pressured by Yazan Al-Arab) scoring an own goal to equalise the match. To make it better for Jordan, before the end of the first half, at the sixth minute of extra time, Musa Al-Taamari produced a solo; despite his shot was being prevented by Jung Seung-hyun, it deflected wide enough for Yazan Al-Naimat to take the volley and give Jordan a shock lead. At the second half, Jordan's organised defence proved to be highly effective as South Korea could not find the back of the net, but when the match came to extra time, Son Heung-min managed to sneak into Jordanian penalty area, providing a pass to Hwang In-beom, whose shot later hit the foot of Al-Arab before deflecting to Yazid Abu Layla's net, confirming the result to a thrilling draw.
This result meant South Korea remained undefeated to Jordan after six meetings, yet South Korea had not defeated Jordan in both Asian Cup meetings, while Jordan missed out another opportunity to produce a shock result after their neighbour Iraq shocked Japan a day earlier.
GK 1 Yazid Abu LaylaCB 3 Abdallah NasibCB 5 Yazan Al-Arab CB 17Salem Al-AjalinRM 23Ihsan Haddad (c) CM 21Nizar Al-Rashdan CM 14Rajaei Ayed LM 13Mahmoud Al-Mardi RF 10Musa Al-Taamari CF 11Yazan Al-Naimat LF 9 Ali OlwanSubstitutions:DF 2 Mohammad Abu Hashish MF 26Fadi Awad MF 15Ibrahim Sadeh MF 25Anas Al-Awadat Manager: Hussein Ammouta GK 21Jo Hyeon-wooRB 22Seol Young-wooCB 15Jung Seung-hyunCB 4 Kim Min-jaeLB 2 Lee Ki-je RM 18Lee Kang-inCM 5 Park Yong-woo CM 6 Hwang In-beom LM 10Lee Jae-sung CF 7 Son Heung-min (c)CF 9 Cho Gue-sung Substitutions:MF 8 Hong Hyun-seok DF 23Kim Tae-hwan FW 20Oh Hyeon-gyu MF 17Jeong Woo-yeong MF 16Park Jin-seop Manager: Jürgen Klinsmann
Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (South Korea)
Assistant referees: Taleb Al-Marri (Qatar) Saoud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar) Fourth official: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates) Reserve assistant referee: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar) Assistant video assistant referees: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Bahrain vs Malaysia Bahrain and Malaysia met each other shortly after their recent meeting during the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification. Malaysia won just two in 12 previous meetings, but Bahrain dominated in all competitive fixtures with an undefeated record, including the most recent 2–1 win in the same Asian Cup qualification.
The match was largely a dull affair as neither Bahrain or Malaysia proved to be the better side for most of the game, until the fifth minute of the second half's extra time, when from a corner kick, the ball was deflected to Ali Madan, who then unleashed his long-range shot at the surprise of the Malaysians as Syihan Hazmi failed to clear out despite having his hand slightly touching the ball, resulting in the only goal of the match at death.
With this result, Malaysia failed to advance past the group stage of an AFC Asian Cup again after four appearances, while they were also struggling to find their first Asian Cup win since 1980 (2–0 against the United Arab Emirates).
GK 22Ebrahim LutfallaRB 18Mohamed AdelCB 4 Sayed BaqerCB 3 Waleed Al Hayam (c)LB 19Hazza Ali CM 6 Mohamed Al-HardanCM 13Moses Atede RW 7 Ali MadanAM 10Kamil Al-Aswad LW 8 Mohamed Marhoon CF 14Abdullah Al-Hashash Substitutions:MF 15Jasim Al-Shaikh FW 9 Abdulla Yusuf Helal FW 20Mahdi Al-Humaidan MF 12Ali Hassan Isa DF 23Abdullah Al-Khalasi Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi GK 16Syihan HazmiCB 6 Dominic TanCB 3 Shahrul Saad CB 21Dion CoolsRM 2 Matthew Davies (c)CM 8 Stuart WilkinCM 14Syamer Kutty Abba LM 22La'Vere Corbin-OngRF 12Arif Aiman Hanapi CF 17Paulo Josué LF 7 Faisal Halim Substitutions:MF 24Natxo Insa FW 19Akhyar Rashid FW 26Romel Morales FW 13Mohamadou Sumareh Manager: Kim Pan-gon
Man of the Match: Ali Madan (Bahrain)
Assistant referees: Abu Bakar Al-Amri (Oman) Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman) Fourth official: Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq) Reserve assistant referee: Ahmed Al-Baghdadi (Iraq) Video assistant referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates) Assistant video assistant referees: Shaun Evans (Australia)
South Korea vs Malaysia South Korea faced Malaysia for the first time since their last meeting during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification in June 1989, which South Korea won 3–0. In term of Asian Cup finals encounter however, Malaysia held South Korea to a 1–1 draw back in 1980.