Croatia and Morocco, which lost to Argentina and France in the semi-finals at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, played third- and fourth-place matches, respectively. Croatia won 2-1. However, there is no third-place match at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup. If the team loses in the semifinals, it will pack as it is.
In the Asian Cup, the team played third and fourth place matches up to the 2015 Asian Cup. At that time in Australia, the UAE beat Iraq to rank third. However, at the 2019 World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE and Iran, which lost in the semifinal, did not play third and fourth place matches separately. However, Iran, which was ahead of the goal difference, became the third place finisher. It was the first time that the Asian Cup was not held since 1972, when the Asian Cup became a knockout tournament system.
The reason why the third-place match has disappeared is that the European league is currently in full swing. Many of the players who play for each country are playing in European leagues such as England, Germany and France, and they must return to their teams immediately after the Asian Cup and play in league games. The same applies to Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Lee Kang-in (PSG) of the Korean national soccer team.
The matches for the third and fourth places are also somewhat sluggish. The Asian Cup also receives less prize money than World Cup events. The Asian Cup team that fails to make it to the semifinals will be given 1 million U.S. dollars each. The amount is not that big considering players' ransom and chances of injury. During the Qatar World Cup, third-ranked Croatia won 27 million dollars, and fourth-ranked Morocco won 25 million dollars.
The fact that there is no third-place match means that tonight's semifinal loser between South Korea and Jordan, at midnight, will no longer have a match in Qatar. The winning team will play the final match against the winner of the Iran-Qatar match on Wednesday.
BY: 사설토토