The UAE will host the 17th edition of the Asian Cup from January 5-February 1 next year. Here is a lowdown on the tournament and all the information you need.
WHAT IS IT?
The Asian Cup is a quadrennial football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation. First held in 1956, it is the second-oldest continental football championship in the world after the Copa America. Australia are the reigning Asian champions following their success on home soil in 2015.
WHEN IS IT?
The 2019 Asian Cup will take place in the UAE from January 5 to February 1 - only the second time the Emirates has played host.
The country last staged the tournament in 1996, when the national team were defeated in the final on penalties by Gulf rivals Saudi Arabia. That remains the UAE's best Asian Cup performance to date. Four years ago, they finished third.
WHERE DO THE MATCHES TAKE PLACE?
Eight venues have been chosen across three emirates to stage the 51 matches. In Abu Dhabi, matches will be played at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium and Al Nahyan Stadium, while Al Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium and Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium will also host games.
In Dubai, Al Maktoum Stadium and the Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium have been selected, as has Sharjah Stadium. The majority of the venues have undergone extensive refurbishment ahead of the Asian Cup. Zayed Sports City will stage the opening match and the final.
WHO IS PLAYING?
For the first time, the Asian Cup will feature 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format employed between 2004 and 2015. Teams have been divided into six groups of four, with the top two sides and the four best third-placed sides progressing to the knockout stages.
As hosts, the UAE qualified automatically, while the other 23 teams were determined by a qualification process that ran from March 2015 to March this year. Its first two rounds also served as part of qualification for the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
WHO HAS BEEN DRAWN WITH WHO IN THE GROUP STAGES?
The UAE were drawn in Group A alongside Bahrain, Thailand and India. They will kick off the tournament against their Gulf neighbours on January 5 at the Zayed Sports City Stadium.
Elsewhere, defending champions Australia were drawn in Group B alongside 2018 World Cup play-off rivals Syria, Palestine and Jordan.
Saudi Arabia were placed in Group E together with Qatar, Lebanon and North Korea, while Iran - Asia’s highest-ranked side - take on Iraq, Vietnam and Yemen in Group D.
GROUP A
UAE
Bahrain
Thailand
India
GROUP B
Australia
Syria
Palestine
Jordan
GROUP C
South Korea
China
Kyrgyzstan
Philippines
GROUP D
Iran
Iraq
Vietnam
Yemen
GROUP E
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Lebanon
Yemen
GROUP F
Japan
Uzbekistan
Oman
Turkmenistan
WHO ARE THE PAST WINNERS?
Japan are the most successful team in tournament history having won the trophy a record four times: 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011. Saudi Arabia (3), Iran (3) and South Korea (2) are the event’s only other multiple winners. Israel, Kuwait, Iraq and Australia have all won it once. The last team to retain the title were Japan, in 2004.
HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS AND WHERE ARE THEY PURCHASED?
Tickets are released on Monday July 30. They can be purchased at www.afcasiancup2019.com. Tickets are priced as follows.
Group stages Category 3 Dh25; Category 2 Dh50; Category 1 Dh75
Last 16 Category 3 Dh25; Category 2 Dh50; Category 1 Dh75
Quarter-finals Category 3 Dh50; Category 2 Dh75; Category 1 Dh150
Semi-finals Category 3 Dh50; Category 2 Dh75; Category 1 Dh150
Final Category 3 Dh75; Category 2 Dh150; Category 1 Dh300
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
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- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
The specs: 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
Price, base: Dh1.2 million
Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 725hp @ 6,500pm
Torque: 900Nm @ 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.3L / 100km (estimate)
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At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
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Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (87')
Athletic Bilbao 1
Williams (14')
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
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match info
Southampton 0
Arsenal 2 (Nketiah 20', Willock 87')
Red card: Jack Stephens (Southampton)
Man of the match: Rob Holding (Arsenal)
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
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Investors: A15 and self-funded
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
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THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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