This was the first Asian Cup to be contested and it was played shortly after World Cup VIII. There were a total of 18 teams who took part in the competition; all seventeen teams who participated in World Cup VIII qualifying plus Israel, who had moved to AFC from UEFA for the tournament to give both AFC and UEFA an even number of teams to use in their tournaments (18 and 40 respectively).

Rather than a traditional sixteen team tournament, AFC decided to use a unique ten team format for the "finals", so that it could eliminate eight teams in qualifying rather than just two. The top two in each group would advance to the knockout round, which would start at the semifinal stage.

Teams Entered: 18
Champion: Bahrain (1st)
Top Scorer: A. Hubail (6)

Qualification

The eighteen teams were broken up into four uneven groups. Two groups would have five teams and two groups would have four teams. Qualification was straight forward, the top 3 teams in the groups of five would qualify while only the top 2 from the groups of four would qualify.

Seeding

The draw for the groups was seeded. The draw was also non-conventional in that it only used three "tiers" rather than 5 as a five team group draw would require. The rational behind this was that there were many "new" teams and that there was little to distinguish between them to determine who deserved a higher seed.

Seeding was based on each nation's performance in the previous World Cups. The four teams who had qualified the most were placed into Pot A. There were only three other nations who had qualified, so they were placed in Pot B along with Iraq and Qatar - teams who had reached the playoffs of World Cup VIII but had failed to qualify. All other teams who had never qualified were placed into Pot C.

Pot A: Australia, South Korea, Japan, Iran
Pot B: Saudi Arabia, China, Uzebekistan, Iraq, Qatar
Pot C: Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, New Zealand, North Korea, Oman, Syria, Thailand, United Arab Emirates

Results

Group A

Uzbekistan - 11 pts +5 GD 13 GF 8 GA
Japan - 9 pts +3 GD 12 GF 9 GA
Thailand - 7 pts -2 GD 8 GF 10 GA
United Arab Emirates - 6 pts -6 GD 7 GF 13 GA

Thailand 0 – 1 United Arab Emirates [M. Al-Shehihi]
Japan 1 – 1 Uzbekistan [Kagawa; Ahmedov]

United Arab Emirates 1 – 2 Japan [Haider Alo Ali; T. Tanaka, Okazaki]
Thailand 3 – 2 Uzbekistan [Choeichiu, Dangda x2; Shatskikh, Ahmedov]

Uzbekistan 4 – 2 United Arab Emirates [Ahmedov, Ibrahimov, Karpenko, Shatskikh; I. Matar, M. Al-Shehhi]
Japan 3 – 3 Thailand [K. Nakamura x2, T. Tanaka; Thonglao, Dangda, Suksomkit]

United Arab Emirates 1 – 0 Thailand [I. Matar]
Uzbekistan 1 – 1 Japan [Geynrikh; Okazaki]

Japan 4 – 1 United Arab Emirates [Tamada x2, Okubo, Nawaf Mubarak OG; I. Matar]
Uzbekistan 2 – 0 Thailand [Shatskikh x2]

United Arab Emirates 1 – 3 Uzbekistan [S. Mohamed; Geynrikh, Djeparov, Shatskikh]
Thailand 2 – 1 Japan [Winothai x2; Okazaki]

Group B

Iran - 22 pts +10 GD 18 GF 9 GA
Qatar - 11 pts -2 GD 11 GF 13 GA
Israel - 10 pts -2 GD 12 GF 14 GA
Iraq - 8 pts +1 GD 12 GF 11 GA
Syria - 6 pts -7 GD 10 GF 17 GA

Iraq 0 – 1 Israel [Golan]
Syria 1 – 3 Iran [Chaabo; M. Zare x2, Teymourian]
BYE: Qatar

Syria 1 – 2 Qatar [Chaabo; Sebastian x2]
Iran 1 – 0 Iraq [Hashemian]
BYE: Israel

Iran 2 – 0 Israel [Teymourian, Karimi]
Qatar 2 – 1 Iraq [Ali Afif x2; Sadir]
BYE: Syria

Qatar 2 – 3 Iran [Sebastian x2; Hashemian x2, M. Zare]
Israel 2 – 0 Syria [Colautti x2]
BYE: Iraq

Israel 3 – 0 Qatar [Colautti, Benayoun, Ben Sahar]
Iraq 4 – 1 Syria [Younis, Emad Mohammed x2, Hawar Mohammed; Esmaeel]
BYE: Iran

Israel 1 – 4 Iraq [Benayoun; N. Akram, Hawar Mohammed, Abdul-Zahra x2]
Iran 2 – 1 Syria [Karimi, Hashemian; M. Al-Sayed]
BYE: Qatar

Israel 2 – 4 Iran [Colautti, Ben Sahar; Karimi x3, Ben Haim OG]
Iraq 1 – 1 Qatar [Younis; Fabio Cesar]
BYE: Syria

Iran 2 – 1 Qatar [Borhan, Mahdavikia; Ali Afif]
Syria 3 – 2 Israel [Adel Abdullah, Rafe x2; Ben Sahar, T. Cohen]
BYE: Iraq

Qatar 2 – 1 Syria [Sebastian, Al-Yazeedi; Al-Zeno]
Iraq 2 – 2 Iran [S. Rezaei OG, Abdul-Zahra; Borhani, G. Razaei]
BYE: Israel

Qatar 1 – 1 Israel [Sebastian; Colautti]
Syria 2 – 0 Iraq [Al-Zeno, Al-Khatib]
BYE: Iran

Group C

South Korea - 15 pts +10 GD 15 GF 5 GA
Bahrain - 13 pts -2 GD 13 GF 15 GA
China - 12 pts +2 GD 12 GF 10 GA
New Zealand - 8 pts -2 GD 8 GF 10 GA
North Korea - 6 pts -8 GD 3 GF 11 GA

China 1 – 1 Bahrain [Zheng Zhi; Salmeen]
North Korea 0 – 0 New Zealand
BYE: South Korea

North Korea 0 – 0 China
New Zealand 1 – 1 South Korea [Fallon; Park Chuyoung]
BYE: Bahrain

Bahrain 2 – 1 South Korea [A. Hubail, Abdulrahman; Lee Keunho]
China 2 – 1 New Zealand [Hao Junmin x2; Bertos]
BYE: North Korea

New Zealand 1 – 2 Bahrain [Fallon; A. Hubail, A. A. Omar]
South Korea 0 – 0 North Korea
BYE: China

South Korea 2 – 0 China [Jeong Shunghoon x2]
Bahrain 1 – 0 North Korea [M. Hubail]
BYE: New Zealand

China 1 – 1 South Korea [Gao Lin; Park Jisung]
North Korea 2 – 1 Bahrain [Jong Tae-Se, Mun In-Guk; Abdullatif]
BYE: New Zealand

China 4 – 0 North Korea [He Yang, Hao Junmin, Yao Hanchao, Gao Lin]
South Korea 1 – 0 New Zealand [Park Jisung]
BYE: Bahrain

Bahrain 4 – 2 China [F. Ayesh, Feng Xiaoting OG, Okwunwanne, A. A. Omar; Zheng Zhi, Gao Lin]
New Zealand 1 – 0 North Korea [Oughton]
BYE: South Korea

South Korea 5 – 0 Bahrain [Park Jisung x2, Ki Sungyueng, Lee Chungyong, Cho Wonhee]
New Zealand 1 – 2 China [Fallon; Hao Junmin, Cao Tianbao]
BYE: North Korea

Bahrain 2 – 3 New Zealand [A. Hubail, Salmeen; Killen, Vicelich, Smeltz]
North Korea 1 – 4 South Korea [Ji Yun-Nam; Park Chuyoung, Ki Sungyueng, Lee Keunho x2]
BYE: China

Group D

Australia - 16 pts +13 GD 16 GF 3 GA
Oman - 8 pts -2 GD 4 GF 6 GA
Saudi Arabia - 5 pts -2 GD 4 GF 6 GA
Kuwait - 4 pts -9 GD 5 GF 14 GA

Saudi Arabia 0 – 1 Australia [Sterjovski]
Kuwait 1 – 1 Oman [Ajab; H. Saleh]

Oman 0 – 3 Australia [Harry Kewell, Cahill, Viduka]
Kuwait 0 – 3 Saudi Arabia [Hazazi x2, Al-Abdullah]

Australia 5 – 2 Kuwait [Cahill x4, Valeri; Ajab, Al-Mutwa]
Saudi Arabia 0 – 2 Oman [H. Saleh, Bashir]

Australia 2 – 0 Oman [Bresciano, Harry Kewell]
Saudi Arabia 0 – 2 Kuwait [Jumah, Ajab]

Kuwait 0 – 4 Australia [Cahill x2, Bresciano, Viduka]
Oman 0 – 0 Saudi Arabia

Australia 1 – 1 Saudi Arabia [Viduka; Yasser]
Oman 1 – 0 Kuwait [Al-Ghassani]

Qualified Teams

Uzbekistan
Japan
Iran
Qatar
Israel
South Korea
Bahrain
China
Australia
Oman

Asian Cup

Group Stage

Group A

Australia - 6 pts +3 GD 9 GF 6 GA
Japan - 5 pts +3 GD 7 GF 4 GA
South Korea - 5 pts +0 GD 6 GF 6 GA
Qatar - 5 pts -4 GD 6 GF 10 GA
Israel - 4 pts -2 GD 6 GF 8 GA

Israel 0 – 3 Australia [Grella, Sterjovski, McDonald]
Japan 1 – 1 South Korea [T. Tanaka; Lee Keunho]
BYE: Qatar

Australia 0 – 0 Japan
Qatar 2 – 2 Israel [Al-Bloushi, Sebastian; Ben Sahar, Golan]
BYE: South Korea

South Korea 3 – 3 Australia [Park Chuyoung x2, Lee Chungyong; Cahill x2, Bresciano]
Japan 5 – 0 Qatar [T. Tanaka x2, Endo, Okubo, Nakamura]
BYE: Israel

Israel 3 – 1 Japan [Colautti, Golan x2; Nakamura]
Qatar 1 – 0 South Korea [M. Hassan]
BYE: Australia

Australia 3 – 3 Qatar [Emerton x2, Valeri; Sebastian x2, Fabio Cesar]
South Korea 2 – 1 Israel [Park Jisung, Jeong Shunghoon; T. Cohen]
BYE: Japan

Group B

Bahrain - 10 pts +5 GD 10 GF 5 GA
China - 7 pts +5 GD 9 GF 4 GA
Iran - 5 pts +2 GD 8 GF 6 GA
Uzbekistan - 3 pts -8 GD 4 GF 12 GA
Oman - 2 pts -4 GD 6 GF 10 GA

China 4 – 1 Uzbekistan [Gao Lin x2, Zheng Zhi, Denisov OG; Shatskikh]
Oman 0 – 0 Iran
BYE: Bahrain

Uzbekistan 3 – 2 Oman [Soliev x2, Farhod Tojiyev; Hassan Rabia, Al-Maimani]
Bahrain 1 – 0 China [A. Hubail]
BYE: Iran

Iran 5 – 0 Uzbekistan [Karimi x3, Mahdavikia, Hashemian]
Oman 4 – 4 Bahrain [Al-Maimani, M. Hussain OG, Al Hosni x2; A. Hubail x2, A. Omar, A. A. Omar]
BYE: China

China 3 – 0 Oman [Yang Hao, Gao Lin, Zhao Xuri]
Bahrain 4 – 1 Iran [A. Hubail x2, Abdulrahman, Salmeen; M. Zare]
BYE: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan 0 – 1 Bahrain [A. Hubail]
Iran 2 – 2 China [Teymourian, Borhani; Zheng Zhi, Gao Lin]
BYE: Oman