1972 AFC Asian Cup

The 1972 AFC Asian Cup was the 5th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), that was hosted in Thailand. The finals were held in Thailand between 7 May and 19 May 1972. It was won by Iran.^[1][2][3]

1972 AFC Asian Cup

Asian Cup Thailand 1972 เอเชียนคัพ 2515
Tournament details
Host country	Thailand
Dates	7–19 May
Teams	6
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Iran (2nd title)
Runners-up	South Korea
Third place	Thailand
Fourth place	Khmer Republic
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	38 (2.92 per match)
Attendance	155,000 (11,923 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Hossein Kalani (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Ebrahim Ashtiani
← 1968 1976 →

Qualification

Main article: 1972 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearance
Thailand[note 1]	Hosts and Central Zone winners	30 May 1971	0 (debut)
Iran	1968 AFC Asian Cup champions	19 May 1968	1 (1968)
Khmer Republic	Central Zone runners-up	30 May 1971	0 (debut)
South Korea	Eastern zone winners (automatically qualified)	1971	3 (1956, 1960, 1964)
Iraq	Western Zone winners	22 December 1971	0 (debut)
Kuwait	Western Zone runners-up	21 December 1971	0 (debut)

Squads

Main article: 1972 AFC Asian Cup squads

Venue

Bangkok	Bangkok
	National Stadium
	Capacity: 26,000

Group allocation matches

• Winners divided over different groups

7 May 1972

South Korea	0–0	Iraq
Penalties
Cha Bum-kun Hwang Jae-man Park Su-deok	2–4	Aziz Nouri Kadhim Fathi

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 2,000

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7 May 1972

Iran	2–0	Khmer Republic
Kalani 45' Iranpak 51'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Kim Jo-Wong (South Korea)

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8 May 1972

Thailand	0–2	Kuwait
		Jawad Khalaf 42' Fayez Marzouq 87'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 28,000

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4	4	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Thailand (H)	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	1
3	Iraq	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	1

Source: RSSSF
(H) Hosts

9 May 1972

Iran	3–0	Iraq
Kalani 34', 70', 78'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Sivapalan Kathiravale (Malaysia)

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11 May 1972

Thailand	1–1	Iraq
Supakit Meelarpkit 57'		Yousif 6'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 24,000

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13 May 1972

Thailand	2–3	Iran
Prapon Tantariyanond 69', 70'		Jabbari 80', 86', 88'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Matolzi (Malaysia)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2	2	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Khmer Republic	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1	2
3	Kuwait	2	1	0	1	2	5	−3	2

Source: RSSSF

10 May 1972

South Korea	4–1	Khmer Republic
Park Su-deok 37' Lee Hoi-taek 59' Cha Bum-kun 69' Park Lee-chun 78'		Doeur Sokhom 82'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 7,000

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12 May 1972

South Korea	1–2	Kuwait
Park Lee-chun 2' (pen.)		Mohammad Sultan 25' Ibrahim Duraiham 73'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 10,000

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14 May 1972

Khmer Republic	4–0	Kuwait
Doeur Sokhom 23' Sok Sun Hean 56' Tes Sean 59' Sea Cheng Eang 80'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 1,000

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	16 May–Bangkok
	Iran	2
					19 May–Bangkok
	Khmer Republic	1
					Iran (a.e.t.)	2
	17 May–Bangkok
					South Korea	1
	South Korea (pen.)	1 (2)
	Thailand	1 (1)
					Third place
					19 May–Bangkok
					Khmer Republic	2 (3)
					Thailand (pen.)	2 (5)

Semi-finals

16 May 1972

Iran	2–1	Khmer Republic
Iranpak 13' Ghelichkhani 47'		Doeur Sokhom 18'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Matolozi (Malaysia)

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17 May 1972

South Korea	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Thailand
Park Lee-chun 115'		Prapon Tantariyanond 98'
Penalties
	2–1

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 20,000

Third place play-off

19 May 1972

Khmer Republic	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Thailand
Tol Kimchi 44', 49'		Ich Narding 6', 90+13'
Penalties
	3–5

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 15,000

Final

Main article: 1972 AFC Asian Cup final

19 May 1972

Iran	2–1 (a.e.t.)	South Korea
Jabbari 48' Kalani 108'		Park Lee-chun 65'

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Sivapalan Kathiravale (Malaysia)

Goalscorers

5 goals

• Hossein Kalani

4 goals

• Ali Jabbari
• Park Lee-Chun

3 goals

• Doeur Sokhom
• Prapon Tantariyanond

2 goals

• Safar Iranpak
• Ich Narding
• Tol Kimchi

1 goal

• Parviz Ghelichkhani
• Ammo Yousif
• Sea Cheng Eang
• Sok Sun Hean
• Tes Sean
• Fayez Marzouq
• Ibrahim Duraiham
• Jawad Khalaf
• Mohammad Sultan
• Cha Bum-Kun
• Lee Hoi-Taek
• Park Su-Deok
• Supakit Meelarpkit

Notes

1.  Israel originally qualified as hosts but later withdrew and Thailand replaced them.