The White Wolves reached the last-16 stage of the previous edition of the tournament in UAE, where they were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Australia, while Nosour Qasioun couldn't progress beyond the group stage.
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Uzbekistan will face off against Syria in the first round of the AFC Asian Cup Group B fixture at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan on Saturday. In addition to these two sides, the group also features India and Australia, while Socceroos are favourites to top the group, the Uzbeks are tipped to emerge as a dark horse in the tournament. The White Wolves reached the round of 16 stage of the previous edition of the tournament in UAE in 2019, where they were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Australia, while Nosour Qasioun couldn’t progress beyond the group stage, taking just one point from three games to finish at the bottom.
Second day matches of the group stages 🔥
What are your predictions? ✍🏼#AsianCup2023 #HayyaAsia pic.twitter.com/hH77sQCUjp
— AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) January 13, 2024
Between 2004 and 2019, Uzbekistan reached the knockout rounds in each of the five AFC Asian Cup’s. Last time out in UAE, the White Wolves collected six points from three outings to finish second in Group D behind Japan, before losing out to Australia in the last-16 stage. Meanwhile, the Turanians’ best performance in the tournament came in 2011 when they reached the semi-final stage and finished fourth after losing to Socceroos. Srecko Katanec’s side enter this edition of the AFC Asian Cup on the back of seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions, recording five wins in the process. Their latest success came against Palestine in a friendly last week thanks to Bobour Abdikholikov’s lone goal ten minutes from time.
Syria, on the other hand, are set to compete in their seventh AFC Asian Cup finals having made their debut back in 1980, but have never reached the knockout round of the tournament. In 2019, the Qasioun Eagles started off with draw against Palestine, suffered back-to-back defeats to Jordan and Japan in the second and third round of fixtures respectively before exiting the group stage of the tournament. Meanwhile, Syria are heading in to the match on the back not so great results, recording three wins, three draws and four defeats from their last ten outings in all competitions. Hector Cuper’s side started their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win against North Korea in November, but then suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Japan, before playing out back-to-back draws with Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia in friendlies in 2024.
Uzbekistan probable starting lineup: Yusupov, Sayfiev, Alijonov, Ashurmatov, Nasrullaev, Shukurov, Hamrobekov, Masharipov, Fayzullaev, Urunov, Sergeyev
Syria probable starting lineup: Alma, Ajan, Midani, Jenyat, Krouma, Youssef, Anez, Al Marmour, Abraham, Hesar, Khribin
Uzbekistan
| Opponents | score |
| Palestine | 1-0 (W) |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1-4 (W) |
| Iran | 2-2 (D) |
| Turkmenistan | 1-3 (W) |
| China | 1-2 (W) |
Syria
| Opponents | Score |
| Malaysia | 2-2 (D) |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1-1 (D) |
| Japan | 0-5 (L) |
| North Korea | 1-0 (W) |
| Kuwait | 1-2 (L) |
| Last 5 match-results | Score |
| Syria beat Uzbekistan | 1-0 |
| Uzbekistan beat Syria | 2-0 |
| Uzbekistan draw Syria | 1-1 |
| Syria beat Uzbekistan | 1-0 |
| Uzbekistan beat Syria | 1-0 |
The AFC Asian Cup fixture between Uzbekistan and Syria will take place at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday at 11:00 pm IST.
| Uzbekistan vs Syria | Key Details |
| Date | January 13 |
| Venue | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium |
| Kickoff time in Uzbekistan | 10:30 pm |
| Kickoff time in Syria | 8:30 pm |
| Kickoff time in Qatar | 8:30 pm |
| Kickoff time in India | 11:00 pm |
The live telecast of the AFC Asian Cup matches in India will be available on Sports 18 network. Besides, football fans in India can also live stream the game through Jio Cinema. Meanwhile, those in Uzbekistan can catch the live action via Uzsport TV, while football fans in Syria can watch the match on TOD and beIN Sports network.
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