2019 AFC Cup final

The 2019 AFC Cup Final was the final match of the 2019 AFC Cup, the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).^[2]

2019 AFC Cup Final

Event	2019 AFC Cup
April 25 Al-Ahed 0 1
Date	4 November 2019 (2019-11-04)
Venue	Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Kuala Lumpur
Man of the Match	Issah Yakubu (Al-Ahed)[1]
Referee	Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)[1]
Attendance	500[1]
Weather	Mostly clear 27 °C (81 °F)[1]
← 2018 2021 →

The final was contested as a single match between April 25 from North Korea and Al-Ahed from Lebanon. The match was played at the Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on 4 November 2019.

Al-Ahed won 1–0 by a goal from Ghanaian player Issah Yakubu. This was Al-Ahed's first continental title, as well as the first for a Lebanese team.^[3] April 25 became the first North Korean men's football club to qualify for an Asian final,^[4] while Al-Ahed were the third Lebanese side to do so (after Nejmeh in 2005 and Safa in 2008).^[3]

Teams

Team	Zone	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
April 25	East Asia Zone (EAFF) (Inter-zone play-off winner)	None
Al-Ahed	West Asia Zone (WAFF)	None

Venue

The match was originally to be hosted by April 25 at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea on 2 November 2019. However, on 22 October 2019, due to North Korea's decision to ban television transmission of football games, the AFC announced that the final would be held in Shanghai, China in order for the match to be transmitted.^[5][6] On 25 October 2019, the match was rescheduled from 2 November to 4 November and the host city was shifted from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[7]

Road to the final

Further information: 2019 AFC Cup

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

April 25				Round	Al-Ahed
Opponent	Result			Group stage	Opponent	Result
Hang Yuen	3–0 (A)			Matchday 1	Al-Qadsia	0–0 (H)
Kitchee	2–0 (H)			Matchday 2	Malkiya	0–0 (A)
Tai Po	3–1 (A)			Matchday 3	Al-Suwaiq	4–2 (H)
Tai Po	4–0 (H)			Matchday 4	Al-Suwaiq	1–0 (A)
Hang Yuen	5–0 (H)			Matchday 5	Al-Qadsia	1–0 (A)
Kitchee	0–1 (A)			Matchday 6	Malkiya	2–1 (H)
Group I winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 April 25 6 15 2 Kitchee 6 10 3 Tai Po 6 8 4 Hang Yuen 6 1 Source: AFC				Final standings	Group C winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Al-Ahed 6 14 2 Malkiya 6 8 3 Al-Qadsia 6 7 4 Al-Suwaiq 6 4 Source: AFC
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout stage	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
—				Zonal semi-finals	Al-Wehdat	1–0	1–0 (A)	0–0 (H)
				Zonal finals	Al-Jazeera	1–0	0–0 (A)	1–0 (H)
Abahani Limited Dhaka	5–4	3–4 (A)	2–0 (H)	Inter-zone play-off semi-finals	—
Hà Nội	2–2 (a)	2–2 (A)	0–0 (H)	Inter-zone play-off final

Format

The final was played as a single match, with the host team (winners of the Inter-zone play-off final) alternated from the previous season's final.

Should it tied after regulation time, extra time and, if necessary, penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winning team.^[2]

Match

Details

April 25	0–1	Al-Ahed
	Live Report Stats Report	Yakubu 74'

4 November 2019 (2019-11-04)

21:00 UTC+8

Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Kuala Lumpur

Attendance: 500

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

April 25

Al-Ahed

GK 23 An Tae-song  26' RB 6 Kwon Chung-hyok CB 30 An Song-il I CB 5 Pak Jin-myong LB 29 Pak Song-rok RM 31 Choe Chol-su  28' CM 15 Won Song CM 7 O Hyok-chol LM 14 Son Pyong-il CF 13 Rim Chol-min (c)  40' CF 10 An Il-bom Substitutes: GK 1 Sin Tae-song  28' DF 2 Jang Kum-nam DF 17 An Song-il II  88' MF 19 Yun Il-gwang MF 24 Choe Jong-hyok FW 18 Kim Yu-song  40'  88' FW 21 Jang Hyok Manager: O Yun-son

GK 1 Mehdi Khalil RB 6 Hussein Zein CB 4 Nour Mansour CB 2 Ahmad Al Saleh LB 8 Hussein Dakik CM 13 Issah Yakubu CM 15 Haytham Faour (c)  82' RW 20 Rabih Ataya  80' AM 10 Mohamad Haidar LW 11 Ahmad Zreik CF 99 Ahmed Akaïchi  89' Substitutes: GK 21 Mohamad Hammoud GK 98 Hadi Khalil DF 5 Khalil Khamis MF 7 Hussein Monzer  90+3'  89' MF 14 Walid Shour MF 23 Ali Hadid FW 30 Tarek El Ali  80' Manager: Bassem Marmar

Man of the Match: Issah Yakubu (Al-Ahed)[1] Assistant referees:[1] Deniye Gedara Palitha Parakkrama Hemathunga (Sri Lanka) Wellabada Hewage Don Senjeewa Premalal (Sri Lanka) Fourth official: Omar Al-Yaqoubi (Oman) Fifth official: Abdullah Al-Jardani (Oman)

Match rules[2] 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if tied. Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used, with a fourth allowed in extra time.

See also

• 2019 AFC Champions League Final

References

1. "4.25 SC v Al Ahed FC". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
2. "2019 AFC Cup Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC.
3. Mahfoud, Maroun (5 November 2019). "Observations from Ahed's AFC Cup triumph". FaLebanon. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
4. "North Korea loses hosting soccer match amid TV concerns". AP NEWS. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
5. "نهائي كأس الاتحاد الآسيوي في الصين". lebanonfg.com (in Arabic). 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
6. "AFC Cup 2019 final to be played in Shanghai". AFC. 22 October 2019.
7. "AFC Cup 2019 final to be played on November 4 in Kuala Lumpur". AFC. 25 October 2019.

External links

• AFC Cup, the-AFC.com
• AFC Cup 2019, stats.the-AFC.com