Saudi Arabia keeps 2027 Asian Cup on schedule as AFC releases full match calendar
The AFC has released kick-off times and venues for all 51 matches of the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, as organisers insist the January tournament will go ahead despite regional security concerns.
The 2027 AFC Asian Cup remains on track to open in Saudi Arabia in January, after the Asian Football Confederation and the local organising committee released the kick-off times and venues for all 51 matches in a move aimed at reassuring the continent's federations.
The tournament will run from 7 January to 5 February 2027, with 24 teams playing across eight stadiums in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar. Hosts Saudi Arabia will face Palestine in the opening match at 8 p.m. on 7 January at the King Fahd Sports City Stadium in Riyadh, which, with a capacity of about 72,000, will also stage the final on 5 February. It will be the first time Saudi Arabia has hosted the Asian Cup, seven years before it is due to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Organising committee spokesman Muhammed Q. Alghamdi told an AFC meeting in Tokyo that daily life in Saudi Arabia continues despite regional tensions. "Our job is to be ready, and we will be ready," he said, according to the Associated Press. The local organising committee has said preparations across venues, facilities and supporting services are progressing according to the approved schedule.
Concerns have persisted after Houthi attacks on the kingdom, including a strike that closed Riyadh's international airport for two weeks before operations resumed on 25 October. The 2027 Dakar Rally has been moved out of Saudi Arabia, and Japan Football Association president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has publicly questioned whether the security situation makes hosting straightforward.
AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has said a final decision could wait until the end of November, and that postponing the tournament to 2028 remains possible if circumstances require it. For now, though, both the AFC and the Saudi organisers are proceeding on the basis that the January kick-off will go ahead as planned.
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