The Asian Cup saw many upsets in the early stages of the tournament, with tournament favourites
Australia and
South Korea performing poorly in the group stage. In Group A,
Oman held the Socceroos to a surprising draw. The Omanis took the lead and would have won, if not for an injury time goal from
Tim Cahill. Next, joint hosts and the lowest-ranked team in the competition,
Vietnam, shocked the
UAE with a 2–0 victory. In the same group,
Qatar held
Japan to a shock 1–1 draw. The result caused Japan's coach
Ivica Osim to fly into a rage in which he branded his players as 'amateurs' and reduced his interpreter to tears. In Group D,
Indonesia continued the undefeated streak of the hosts by defeating
Bahrain 2–1.
Malaysia ended up as the only host country to lose their opening match after a crushing 5–1 defeat to
China.
Thailand recorded just their 2nd win in the Asian Cup finals (their other was in 1972 against
Cambodia), and its first ever win in regulation, when they beat Oman 2–0 on 12 July. Meanwhile, Australia was upset by a 3–1 defeat to
Iraq the following day, leaving them floundering in third place in their group despite high expectations. However, Australia's 4–0 demolition of Thailand at the last match day saw them move on to the quarter-finals, as Oman was unable to overcome Iraq in a goalless draw. Vietnam continued to stun all predictions when they drew 1–1 with
2006 ASIAD champions
Qatar, while Japan finally got their first win when they thrashed the UAE 3–1. Although Vietnam lost 1–4 to Japan, the UAE's 2–1 comeback win over Qatar resulted in Vietnam's first ever qualification into the next round. They became the only host to progress through despite being in a group with three different champions. On the other hand, Malaysia continued its poor form with 0–5 and 0–2 losses to
Uzbekistan and
Iran, exiting the tournament without a single point. China's shocking elimination occurred when they were hammered 0–3 by the Uzbeks, despite having drawn 2–2 with Iran and was expected to qualify from group stage with an easy win. Bahrain shocked the whole tournament by defeating South Korea 2–1 in Group D, leaving the Koreans on the verge of elimination when Indonesia was beaten 1–2 by
Saudi Arabia. However, South Korea secured a 1–0 win over hosts Indonesia and with Saudi Arabia destroying Bahrain 4–0, it was enough for the Koreans to qualify to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Iraq defeated Vietnam 2–0, while South Korea needed a penalty shootout to eliminate Iran 4–2. Japan also needed a penalty shootout to defeat Australia 4–3 (this was the first time Australia's goalkeeper
Mark Schwarzer had ever come out on the losing end of a penalty shoot-out), and Saudi Arabia won over Uzbekistan 2–1. Iraq upset the Koreans in the semi-finals by winning 4–3 on penalties, resulting in thousands of Iraqis celebrating in the streets of Baghdad. Over 50 Iraqis were killed by terrorist bombs targeting these crowds. In the other semi-finals, Saudi Arabia eliminated defending champions Japan after a 3–2 win to make the final match an all-Arab affair. Iraq went on to defeat the Saudis 1–0, taking the Asian Cup title. Iraqi forward and captain
Younis Mahmoud was given the title of Most Valuable Player. South Korea took third place, narrowly beating Japan 6–5 on penalties. It was the third consecutive match in the tournament that South Korea drew 0–0 before a penalty shootout. Iraq, Saudi Arabia and South Korea, as the top three teams in the tournament, all received automatic berths to the
2011 Asian Cup along with the next hosts Qatar. == Group stage ==