Tajikistan vs Iraq

The smallest ground, and the strangest record in the group

Al Shabab Stadium holds 13 000, which makes it the smallest venue of the eight and an unusual place to find a former champion. Iraq won this tournament in 2007 and are at an eleventh Asian Cup, their first having come in 1972.

Tajikistan are the opposite kind of side and carry the odder record. This is their second appearance. Their first, in 2023, ended in the quarter-finals, which means a team with almost no tournament history behind it has gone further at an Asian Cup than most of the field managed in the same year.

Whether that was a breakthrough or a fortnight is the question the group asks, and the first round asks it immediately against the side in Group D with the most Asian Cup football behind it. A result here reframes everything that follows.

The two records

This is a second Asian Cup for Tajikistan, whose best finish is quarter-finals (2023), against a eleventh for Iraq, best winners (2007).