The Asian Cup was 65 days away, and attacks on Saudi Arabia have pushed it back almost a year
The AFC has moved the 2027 Asian Cup to 23 December 2027 to 21 January 2028, citing travel disruption and logistics in the region. FIFA still has to approve the new dates.
Nov 3, 2026
The 2027 Asian Cup was 65 days from kick-off. It is now almost a year away. The Asian Football Confederation said on Tuesday that the tournament in Saudi Arabia will run from 23 December 2027 to 21 January 2028, instead of 7 January to 5 February 2027, and the new dates still have to be approved by FIFA.
The AFC’s statement pointed to “the current exceptional circumstances arising from developments in the region, including substantial logistical complexities and travel disruptions”. It did not name the Houthis. It did not need to. Yemen’s Houthi movement has been firing missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia since September, and Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has been hit repeatedly, with people killed and hundreds injured.
The warning came in October
In mid-October the Saudi organisers were still saying preparations were on schedule, while AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said the tournament “could move back a year to 2028 if we need to”. Since then the disruption has spread across the region’s sport. Al Wasl did not travel to Riyadh for their AFC Champions League Elite game against Al-Nassr on 26 October because of flight problems, and the match was postponed. Riyadh’s Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition was moved from October to the end of December.
The AFC said it took the decision after talks with the local organisers and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, and that it was made “in the interest of all participating teams, officials, spectators and other stakeholders”.
This is the second Asian Cup in a row to be moved. The 2023 edition was taken away from China during the Covid pandemic and played in Qatar in early 2024. Qatar won it, as they had in 2019, so they go into this one as two-time holders.
What the tournament looks like
It is the first Asian Cup Saudi Arabia has hosted, and a dry run of sorts for the 2034 World Cup. There are 24 teams and 51 matches across eight stadiums in Riyadh, Jeddah and Khobar. Riyadh has five of those grounds and stages the final at King Fahd Sports City Stadium.
European clubs will not mind the change. In its old slot the tournament would probably have taken Japan’s Zion Suzuki away from Aston Villa and Daizen Maeda from Ipswich in the middle of this season, along with Manchester City’s Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov. The new dates simply push that problem into the 2027-28 season.
India are not in it
None of this changes anything for India. They were knocked out in qualifying in October 2025, when Singapore came from a goal down to win 2-1 in Goa, and it was the first time India had missed the finals since the 2015 edition. Singapore went on to qualify. India had also once bid to host this tournament before withdrawing, which left Saudi Arabia as the only candidate.