2004 AFC Asian Cup

2004 AFC Asian Cup

2004年亚洲杯足球赛
Tournament details
Host country	China
Dates	17 July – 7 August
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Japan (3rd title)
Runners-up	China
Third place	Iran
Fourth place	Bahrain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	96 (3 per match)
Attendance	937,650 (29,302 per match)
Top scorer(s)	A'ala Hubail Ali Karimi (5 goals each)
Best player(s)	Shunsuke Nakamura
Fair play award	China
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The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champions Japan defeated China in the final in Beijing.

The tournament was marked by Saudi Arabia's unexpected failure to even make it out of the first round; a surprisingly good performance by Bahrain, which finished in fourth place; Jordan, which reached the quarterfinals in its first appearance and Indonesia, which gained their historical first Asian Cup win against Qatar. The final match between China and Japan was marked by post-match rioting by Chinese fans near the north gate of Beijing Workers' Stadium, in part due to controversial officiating and anti-Japanese sentiment resulting from historical tensions.^[1]