Since the foundation of the AFC Asian Cup was founded in 1956, Qatar has participated in ten Asian Cups between 1980 and 2023. However, prior to the 2019 edition, Qatar only reached the quarter-finals twice, once in 2000 Asian Cup as one of the two best third-place teams when the tournament had only 12 nations competing, and in 2011, when they finished second in Group A behind Uzbekistan.
In the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Qatar, who was the first team to qualify aside from hosts United Arab Emirates, exceeded expectations. Before the 2019 Asian Cup, they last won a game outside Qatar in the 1984 Asian Cup, when Singapore hosted the tournament.
In 2019, Qatar won its first six games, as many games as they had won in the previous nine editions, and conceded zero goals. In the knock-out stage, they defeated Iraq, South Korea, and United Arab Emirates before defeating Japan 3âÂÂ1 in the final to win the Asian Cup for the first time, which has become Qatar's greatest achievement to date, compared to several Gulf rivals like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq.
In 2023, Qatar won all of its matches in the 2023 Asian Cup group stages, and also conceded zero goals. In the knock-out stage, they faced Palestine, Uzbekistan, and Iran, meeting Jordan in the final beating them 3âÂÂ1 with Akram Afif scoring a hat-trick of penalties, becoming back-to-back Asian Cup champions.
Qatar has hosted the tournament twice, first for the 1988 Asian Cup and also for the 2011 Asian Cup. The 2011 edition was seen as a step for Qatar in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which was to be hosted in the country.
Qatar also recently hosted the 2023 Asian Cup where they won on home soil.