2023 AFC Asian Cup Group B

Group B of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup took place from 13 to 23 January 2024.^[1] The group consisted of Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria and India.^[2] The top two teams, Australia and Uzbekistan, along with third-placed Syria (as one of the four best third-placed teams), advanced to the round of 16.

Notes

This was the first time in 13 years that these two teams faced each other as their last meeting was way back in 2011 also in the Asian Cup which saw the Australia beat India with a scoreline of 4–0. Australia haven't lost to India in 68 years.

After a scoreless first half, a reckless attempt to punch the ball away from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saw the ball intercepted by Jackson Irvine, who scored Australia's opening goal to break the deadlock despite Gurpreet's effort to block it in the 50th minute. At the 72th minute, Riley McGree pulled a phase to overcome Lalengmawia Ralte before delivering the decisive pass for Jordan Bos, who then scored in the almost empty net to secure Australia's 2–0 win.

In personal record, it was the first time Graham Arnold managed to win the opening fixture as coach of Australia (1D, 2L), after failing to do so back in the 2007 and 2019 AFC Asian Cups as well as the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Both these teams met each other just for the second time in this competition, having met before in 1996 with Syria emerging as victorious among the two after a 2–1 win against Uzbekistan. Their recent fixture was a friendly in 2020 where the Syrians beat the Uzbeks 1–0 while their most recent competitive fixture, occurred during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, also ended with Syria won against Uzbekistan by the same scoreline.

The match was largely dominated by Uzbekistan, but neither Uzbekistan and Syria could score a goal in this match, with the closest attempt was the surprise goal of Ibrahim Hesar, which was later disallowed for offside.

This was the second straight match between these two teams as they also faced each other in the previous edition with Australia beating Syria 3–2 to send them through to the knockout stage and eliminate the Syrians. Syria had never managed to beat their Southeast Asian counterpart in three past meetings.

Australia immediately tried to apply early pressure, but it was Syria that got the closest opportunity to score when from a long-range pass by Abdul Rahman Weiss, Ibrahim Hesar captured in Australia's penalty area and sent the ball to Pablo Sabbag, whose shot later hit the left post at the 5th minute. In the 17th minute, Jackson Irvine tried his luck with a header from a set-piece but it went wild as Australia increasingly became more dominant, but they failed to score. Syria, however, suddenly speeded up in the final minutes of the first half but they could not convert it. At the second half, in the 59th minute, from Gethin Jones's pass, Martin Boyle made an effort to solo over Syrian defenders, but while his last pass ended up hit Jalil Elías, it deflected wide enough for Irvine as he pierced the ball over Ahmad Madania to score the only goal of the match; despite Syrian fightback, notably a long-range firing from Moayad Ajan at the 68th minute that saw Mathew Ryan almost fail to hold, Australia went on to assert domination at the later minutes but they could not score as the result was settled in favour for the Australians.

It was the third consecutive match that Australia could only defeat Syria by one-goal margin.

Uzbekistan had never lost against India with their recent fixture being played 22 years ago as part of the 2001 Merdeka Tournament. In competitive fixtures, the last time they met was in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where Uzbekistan beat India 3–2.

Uzbekistan got off to a dream start at the fourth minute when in an offensive effort, Sherzod Nasrullaev provided a clinical high pass for Otabek Shukurov, whose header provided for Abbosbek Fayzullaev saw Fayzullaev headed into India's net for the opener. Uzbekistan became better at the 18th minute when a clumsy coordination by Indian defenders allowed Fayzullaev to pull a phase on India's right flank, which his delivered a nearly lethal low pass that hit the foot of Akash Mishra; although the ball hit the right post, Igor Sergeev was quick to snatch the ball in. Uzbekistan then completed the game in the first half when Jaloliddin Masharipov himself put a solo over the Indians from the midfield before sending wide; despite being cleared, it was intercepted by Oston Urunov, whose pass for Farrukh Sayfiev proved decisive as Sayfiev's high pass this time for Nasrullaev saw his shot initially hit the right post, but it easily deflected to Nasrullaev as he didn't miss again to secure Uzbekistan's victory.

With this defeat, it marked the fourth consecutive match India could not score at the AFC Asian Cup, while in personal record, Srečko Katanec won his third competitive fixture, all in the AFC Asian Cup, after two previous wins over Vietnam and Yemen back in the 2019 edition.

This was the third time that these two teams met in this tournament with their recent fixture being in the round of 16 of the last edition, which Australia beat the Uzbekistan in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw to send the Australians into the last eight and eliminate the Uzbeks. Australia had never lost against Uzbekistan in all four previous encounters, which included a 6–0 victory when both nations met in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup, held at Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

Although Australia had confirmed their place at the knockout stage with a game to spare, they still opted to bring some veterans, notably Mathew Ryan and Harry Souttar, into the encounter. In the 41st minute, in a chaotic ball fight in Uzbekistan's defense area, Kusini Yengi made his effort to solo over before his ball touched the hand of Odiljon Hamrobekov; VAR later confirmed it as a penalty and Martin Boyle clinically scored to give Australia the lead at the first minute of extra time. However, as the Australians loosened their focus, an offensive by the Uzbeks saw Jaloliddin Masharipov send the ball wide enough for Azizbek Turgunboev to score a brilliant header in the 78th minute, as both teams satisfied with a draw that secured their progression.

In personal record, Graham Arnold had not beaten Uzbekistan as a coach (D2). At the same time, Turgunboev's header meant it was the first time in five attempts that Uzbekistan managed to score against Australia. Interestingly, Australia had never collected nine points in all of their AFC Asian Cup participation. In personal record however, it was the first time Graham Arnold managed to lead his team to top the group stage table, having never done so back in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, 2019 AFC Asian Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The recent fixture between these two teams was way back in 2019 when they ended in a 1–1 draw during the 2019 Intercontinental Cup. Syria managed to defeat India on just two occasions, whilst India hadn't lost against Syria in 15 years. However, this was just the first time Syria and India to face each other in any competitive fixture.

The match was mostly dominated by Syria, but India's resistance left the Syrians frustrated for most of time as India kept staying in line. However, from a failed Indian attack, the Syrians launched counterattack, resulting in a long-range pass by Jalil Elías to Alaa Al Dali, then again to Omar Khribin before his pass for Ibrahim Hesar was maximised when Hesar's clinical low pressure pass saw Khribin clinically drilled home despite Indian defender's efforts to prevent it and gave Syria a historic win.

With this result, combined with other group's results, this meant for the first-time ever in the history, Syria advanced past the group stages, having failed to do so in six previous editions they had participated. For India, this meant the Indians had a distressing record, failing to score a single goal in five consecutive Asian Cup matches.

Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:

• first yellow card: −1 point;
• indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
• direct red card: −3 points;
• yellow card and direct red card: −4 points;

Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.

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