Syria at the AFC Asian Cup explained

Syria has been a major participant in the AFC Asian Cup with seven appearances in the tournament, in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011, 2019, and 2023. At 2023 Asian Cup, Omar Khribin scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over India, which granted Syria its first win in the competition since 2011, and first ever qualification to the knockout phase as one of the best third-placed teams.^[1]

Until 2024, Syria have never qualified past the group stage in the Asian Cup, with them narrowly missing out on the knock-out stage in 1980 and knock-out stage in 1996 due to 1 missed point; both eliminations involved China national football team.

AFC Asian Cup record

1980 Kuwait

See main article: 1980 AFC Asian Cup.

Group A

Team	width=25		width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25
	4	2	2	0	12	4	+8	6
	4	3	0	1	9	7	+2	6
	4	2	1	1	3	2	+1	5
	4	1	1	2	9	5	+4	3
	4	0	0	4	2	17	−15	0

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1984 Singapore

See main article: 1984 AFC Asian Cup.

Group A

Team	width=25		width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25	width=25
	4	2	2	0	4	2	+2	6
	4	2	1	1	4	2	+2	5
	4	1	2	1	3	3	0	4
	4	1	1	2	3	5	−2	3
	4	0	2	2	1	3	−2	2

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1988 Qatar

See main article: 1988 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B


6	4	2	2	0	4	1	+3
5	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3
4	4	2	0	2	2	5	−3
3	4	0	3	1	2	3	−1
2	4	0	2	2	1	3	−2

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1996 United Arab Emirates

See main article: 1996 AFC Asian Cup.

Group C


9	3	3	0	7	1	+6
3	3	1	2	3	3	0
3	3	1	2	3	6	−3
3	3	1	2	3	6	−3

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2011 Qatar

See main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

See main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup Group B.


3	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7
3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
3	0	0	3	1	8	−7	0

width=35%		width=15%
9 January 2011
	1–2	^[2]
13 January 2011
	1–2	^[3]
17 January 2011
	2–1

2019 United Arab Emirates

See main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

See main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup Group B.

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2023 Qatar

See main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

Group B

See main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group B.

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Ranking of third-placed teams

Knockout stage

See main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage.

Round of 16

Overall record

AFC Asian Cup record								AFC Asian Cup qualification record
Year	Round
1956	Did not enter	Declined participation
1960
1964
1968
1972	Did not qualify							3	0	2	1	4	5
1976	Withdrew							Withdrew
1980	Round 1	4	2	1	1	3	2	3	2	1	0	2	0
1984	Round 1	4	1	1	2	3	5	5	3	0	2	9	8
1988	Round 1	4	2	0	2	2	5	4	3	1	0	8	2
1992	Did not qualify							2	1	0	1	3	4
1996	Round 1	3	1	0	2	3	6	4	3	0	1	6	2
2000	Did not qualify	6	4	1	1	11	3
2004	6	2	1	3	16	10
2007	6	2	2	2	10	6
2011	Round 1	3	1	0	2	4	5	6	4	2	0	10	2
2015	Did not qualify							6	1	1	4	7	7
2019	Round 1	3	0	1	2	2	5	8	6	0	2	26	11
2023	Round of 16	4	1	2	1	2	2	8	7	0	1	22	7
2027	To be determined							4	2	1	1	9	6
Total	Round of 16	25	8	5	12	19	30	72	40	13	20	143	74

Record by opponent

AFC Asian Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Last Win
	1	1	0	0	1	0	1984
	2	0	2	0	1	1	DNW
	1	1	0	0	1	0	1980
	1	1	0	0	1	0	1988
	2	1	0	1	2	3	1988
	3	1	0	2	1	6	1980
	3	1	0	2	2	4	2011
	2	0	0	2	2	4	DNW
	2	1	1	0	2	1	1996
	2	0	0	2	2	4	DNW
	1	0	0	1	1	2	DNW
	2	0	0	2	1	4	DNW
	1	0	1	0	0	0	DNW
	1	0	1	0	1	1	DNW
	1	1	0	0	1	0	2023

Record results

Syria's Asian Cup record
First match	0–0 (17 September 1980; Kuwait City, Kuwait)
Biggest win	1–2 (12 December 1996; Al Ain, United Arab Emirates) 1–2 (9 January 2011; Al Rayyan, Qatar) 1–0 (23 January 2024; Al Khor, Qatar)
Biggest defeat	3–0 (4 December 1988; Doha, Qatar) 3–0 (9 December 1996; Al Ain, United Arab Emirates)
Best result	Round of 16 (2023)
Worst result	Group stage (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011, 2019)

Goalscorers

!Player!Goals!1980!1984!1988!1996!2011!2019!2023
Omar Khribin	3						1	2
	2		1	1
Jamal Keshek	2	2
Nader Joukhadar	2				2
Abdelrazaq Al-Hussain	2					2
Total	11	2	1	1	2	2	1	2

Only players with minimum 2 goals scored

Notes and References

Web site: Syria beat India to reach Asian Cup knockouts for first time . France 24 . 23 January 2024 .
Web site: Syria shock Saudi Arabia at Asian Cup; Japan snatch draw. edition.cnn.com.
Web site: Syria vs Japan Report - Goal.com . 2018-06-06 . 2011-03-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110317112209/http://www.goal.com/en/match/45642/syria-vs-japan/report . dead .