Lusail Stadium Hosts AFC Asian Cup 2023 Opening and Final Matches

The iconic Lusail Stadium, which hosted the FIFA World Cup final last year, will also host the opening and final matches of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, local organisers confirmed on Monday.

Qatar will kick off the AFC Asian Cup 2023 against Lebanon on January 12 at the Lusail Stadium. Both teams are battling to win the tournament, which will feature the top 24 teams in Asia.

Al Annabi is gearing up for their 40th tournament match, while Lebanon is set for their inaugural opening match at the AFC Asian Cup. The competition will come to an end on February 10, 2024, also taking place at Lusail Stadium.

The country’s ‘jewel in the desert’ stadium will be one of the largest match venues in AFC Asian Cup history behind Iran’s Aryamehr Stadium and Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

These two distinguished venues boasted the largest football seating capacity ever recorded in the history of the AFC competition.

The Aryamehr Stadium in Iran had a capacity of 100,000 spectators when it hosted the 1976 AFC Asian Cup final while the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Indonesia had a capacity of 88,083 spectators when it hosted 7 matches in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.