The 2015 AFC Asian Cup will be the 16th edition of the AFC Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup

The AFC Asian Cup is an international association football tournament run by the Asian Football Confederation . It is the second oldest continental football championship in the world after Copa América. The winning team becomes the champion of Asia and automatically qualifies for the FIFA...

. The finals will be hosted by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and held from the 4 to 26 January 2015.

Host selection

Australia was the sole bidder for the hosting rights and was officially named host on 5 January 2011.

“Considering the efforts of the Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...

 in developing the game on their territory and considering also all the achievements that have been made towards the development of football in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and to encourage Australia to take steps towards developing the game, I am happy and honoured to announce that the executive committee of the Asian Football Confederation

Asian Football Confederation

The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

 has approved Australia as the host nation of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup,” said the AFC President, Mohammed Bin Hammam

Mohammed Bin Hammam

Mohamed bin Hammam is a Qatari who was formerly a football administrator and president of the Asian Football Confederation from 1 August 2002 to 14 June 2011, and a member of FIFA's 24-man executive committee from 1996 to 2011 for more than 15 years...

.

Venue

Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...

 has proposed eight possible venues for the tournament. The AFC has stated that four to five venues will be used.

Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...	Canberra Canberra Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...	Gold Coast Gold Coast, Queensland Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...	Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
Lang Park	Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...	Robina Stadium	Melbourne Rectangular Stadium Melbourne Rectangular Stadium The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium on the site of Edwin Flack Field on Olympic Boulevard in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct, in inner Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
Capacity: 52,500	Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 27,400	Capacity: 30,050
Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Docklands Stadium	Stadium Australia	Sydney Football Stadium	Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium is a sports stadium situated in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.The stadium is used primarily as the home ground of Australian National Rugby League club the Parramatta Eels...
Capacity: 55,000	Capacity: 83,500	Capacity: 45,500	Capacity: 21,480

Qualification

The teams finishing first, second and third in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup

2011 AFC Asian Cup

The 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar on 7–29 January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup...

, and the host nation for the 2015 competition, receive automatic byes to finals. Should the host nation finish in the top three of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the fourth-placed team will not receive an automatic bye. The AFC Challenge Cup

AFC Challenge Cup

The AFC Challenge Cup is an international football competition for emerging nations that are members of the Asian Football Confederation. The first tournament was hosted by Bangladesh in 2006...

 acts as a further qualification competition for eligible countries within the emerging and developing category of member associations. The winners of the AFC Challenge Cup competitions in 2012

2012 AFC Challenge Cup

The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup will be the fourth edition of the tournament which will take place in Nepal from 8–19 March 2012. The winners will qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Unlike in previous editions of the tournament, there were no automatic qualifiers...

 and 2014 qualify automatically to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup finals. The remaining spots will be available for the teams competing in the main Asian Cup preliminaries. The format for these preliminaries are not yet known.

List of qualified teams

Country	|Qualified as	|Date qualification was secured	|Previous appearances in tournament1
	2		(2007 2007 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals were held from July 7 to July 29, 2007. For the first time in its history, the competition was co-hosted by four nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The tournament was won by first-time champions Iraq, who defeated Saudi... , 2011 2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar on 7–29 January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup... )
			(1988 1988 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 1988 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar between December 2 and December 18. Saudi Arabia defeated Republic of Korea in the final match in Doha.-Qualification:... , 1992 1992 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 1992 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan between October 29 and November 8. The host nation, Japan, defeated the defending champion Saudi Arabia in the final in Hiroshima.-Stadiums:... , 1996 1996 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 1996 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between December 4 and December 21. Saudi Arabia defeated host nation U.A.E. in the final match in Abu Dhabi.-Qualification:... , 2000 2000 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 2000 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Lebanon between October 12 and October 29. Japan defeated defending champion Saudi Arabia in the final match in Beirut.-Qualification:... , 2004 2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup football competition is the thirteenth staging of AFC Asian Cup. It was held from July 17 to August 7, 2004 in China. The defending champions Japan defeated China in the final in Beijing.... , 2007 2007 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals were held from July 7 to July 29, 2007. For the first time in its history, the competition was co-hosted by four nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The tournament was won by first-time champions Iraq, who defeated Saudi... , 2011 2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar on 7–29 January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup... )
			(1956 1956 AFC Asian Cup The 1956 AFC Asian Cup was the inaugural tournament of the AFC Asian Cup. The final tournament was held in Hong Kong from 1 September to 15 September 1956... , 1960 1960 AFC Asian Cup The 1960 AFC Asian Cup was the second edition of the tournament. The finals were hosted by South Korea from October 14 to October 23, 1960. The final tournament was organised on a round robin basis, and host country South Korea won with a perfect record of three wins.- Venues :- Qualification... , 1964 1964 AFC Asian Cup The 1964 AFC Asian Cup was the third AFC Asian Cup football tournament. The finals were held in Israel from May 26 to June 3, 1964.The tournament used a round-robin system, and host nation Israel won the title with a perfect record of three wins.-Venues:... , 1972 1972 AFC Asian Cup -Semi-finals:----- Third place play-off :-Final:-External links:**... , 1980 1980 AFC Asian Cup The 1980 AFC Asian Cup was the seventh edition of the Asian Nations Cup, the football championship of Asia . It was hosted by Kuwait between September 15 and 30. The field of ten teams was split into two groups of five. Kuwait won their first championship, beating Korea Republic in the final 3-0.... , 1984 1984 AFC Asian Cup The 1984 AFC Asian Cup was the eighth edition of the Asian Nations Cup, the football championship of Asia . It was hosted by Singapore between December 1 and December 16. The field of ten teams was split into two groups of five... , 1988 1988 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 1988 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar between December 2 and December 18. Saudi Arabia defeated Republic of Korea in the final match in Doha.-Qualification:... , 1996 1996 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 1996 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between December 4 and December 21. Saudi Arabia defeated host nation U.A.E. in the final match in Abu Dhabi.-Qualification:... , 2000 2000 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 2000 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Lebanon between October 12 and October 29. Japan defeated defending champion Saudi Arabia in the final match in Beirut.-Qualification:... , 2004 2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup football competition is the thirteenth staging of AFC Asian Cup. It was held from July 17 to August 7, 2004 in China. The defending champions Japan defeated China in the final in Beijing.... , 2007 2007 AFC Asian Cup The Asian Football Confederation's 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals were held from July 7 to July 29, 2007. For the first time in its history, the competition was co-hosted by four nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The tournament was won by first-time champions Iraq, who defeated Saudi... , 2011 2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar on 7–29 January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup... )