Kuwait at the AFC Asian Cup explained

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.^[1]

Kuwait's Asian Cup record

AFC Asian Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position								width=30					width=30		width=30
1956	Did not enter	Did not enter
1960
1964
1968	Withdrew									Withdrew
1972	Group stage	5th	3	2	0	1	4	5		3	1	1	1	3	3
1976	Runners-up	2nd	4	3	0	1	6	3		Qualified by default
1980	Champions	1st	6	4	1	1	13	6		Qualified as hosts
1984	Third place	3rd	6	2	2	2	5	4		Qualified as defending champions
1988	Group stage	7th	4	0	3	1	2	3		4	3	1	0	9	0
1992	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	4	3
1996	Fourth place	4th	6	2	2	2	9	7		4	2	2	0	9	5
2000	Quarter-finals	6th	4	1	2	1	3	3		4	4	0	0	33	1
2004	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	3	7		6	5	1	0	17	5
	Did not qualify									4	1	1	2	3	4
2011	Group stage	14th	3	0	0	3	1	7		6	2	3	1	6	5
2015	Group stage	15th	3	0	0	3	1	6		6	2	3	1	10	7
2019	Disqualified									8	3	1	4	12	10
2023	Did not qualify									11	5	2	4	24	13
2027	Qualified									6	2	1	3	6	6
Total	Best: Champions	11/19	42	15	10	17	47	51		66	32	17	17	139	63

Head-to-head record

Opponent
	1	0	0	1	1	4
	1	0	1	0	0	0
	5	1	2	2	3	5
	2	0	2	0	2	2
	4	1	2	1	4	4
	1	1	0	0	3	2
	1	1	0	0	2	0
	1	0	0	1	0	2
	1	0	0	1	0	4
	2	2	0	0	5	1
	1	0	0	1	0	1
	3	2	0	1	5	3
	3	0	1	2	2	4
	8	4	1	3	8	9
	2	1	0	1	3	2
	1	1	0	0	2	0
	4	1	1	2	6	6
	1	0	0	1	1	2
Total	42	15	10	17	47	51

1972 edition in Thailand

See main article: 1972 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

----

1976 edition in Iran

See main article: 1976 AFC Asian Cup.

Group A

----

Final

1980 edition in Kuwait

See main article: 1980 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

------------

Final

1984 edition in Singapore

See main article: 1984 AFC Asian Cup.

Group A

------------

Third place play-off

1988 edition in Qatar

See main article: 1988 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

------------

1996 edition in the UAE

See main article: 1996 AFC Asian Cup.

Group A

--------

Third place play-off

2000 edition in Lebanon

See main article: 2000 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

--------

Quarter-finals

2004 edition in China

See main article: 2004 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

--------

2011 edition in Qatar

See main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

Group A

See main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup Group A.

width=35%	!	width=15%
8 January 2011
	0–2
12 January 2011
	2–1
16 January 2011
	3–0

2015 edition in Australia

See main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Group A

See main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group A.

width=25%	!	width=10%	!	width=25%
9 January 2015
	4–1^[2]		AAMI Park, Melbourne
13 January 2015
			Canberra Stadium, Canberra
17 January 2015
			Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle

See also

• Kuwait at the FIFA World Cup

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kuwait faces exclusion from Asian Cup if FIFA ban remains . .
2. Web site: Asian Cup: Australia 4-1 Kuwait | Match report . . 9 January 2015 .