The Saudi national team’s first ever Saudi head coach, Al Zayani led the Green Falcons at their maiden Continental Finals in Singapore in 1984, and they duly become the first debutants to win the title since Islamic Republic of Iran 16 years earlier.

 

An unbeaten group stage campaign, which included a 1-0 win over defending champions Kuwait, saw Saudi Arabia through to the knockout stage, where they ultimately claimed the title with a 2-0 victory over China PR.

 

Al Zayani took charge of Saudi Arabia’s 1984 Olympic Games campaign, and also enjoyed success at club level, particularly with hometown side Al Ettifaq.

Crowned champions at home under Mahmoud Bayati in 1968, Iran defended their title in Thailand four years later, making Ranjbar the first and only Iranian boss to win the AFC Asian Cup on foreign soil.

 

Ranjbar’s charges prevailed in a dramatic final against Korea Republic, with tournament standouts Hossein Kalani and Ali Jabbari both scoring in a match that finished 2-1 after extra-time.

 

That result gave Team Melli a perfect winning record in the tournament, and their tally of five wins has never been matched by an Iranian side at an AFC Asian Cup.

While Ranjbar’s side won every game in 1972, the team led by Heshmat Mohajerani won all of their four matches without conceding a single goal during their success on home soil four years later.

 

Their 1-0 defeat of Kuwait in the final – played before 100,000 spectators in Tehran – made them the only nation in tournament history to win the title on three consecutive occasions, but it was just one of many landmark achievements under Mohajerani.

 

He also took them to an unprecedented quarter-final appearance at the 1976 Olympics and led them to their first FIFA World Cup in 1978, before guiding the United Arab Emirates during their first AFC Asian Cup appearance two years later.

One of international football’s all-time coaching greats, Carlos Alberto Parreira is the only man to win the AFC Asian Cup with two different countries, leading Kuwait to glory in 1980, before repeating the success with Saudi Arabia eight years later.

 

His Kuwait outfit ended Iran’s golden run with a 2-1 semi-final win, before beating Korea Republic 3-0 in the final in Kuwait City, then oversaw Saudi Arabia’s penalty shootout victory against the same opponents in the 1988 decider in Doha.

Having won just one of 11 matches in 2014, Ange Postecoglou came into the 2015 AFC Asian Cup on home soil with much to prove, but he would end the tournament as the architect of one of Australia’s greatest footballing achievements.

 

With consistent success in the Australian club game under his belt, Postecoglou’s uniquely assertive playing style saw 10 different Socceroos get on the scoresheet during the competition, culminating in a thrilling 2-1 extra-time win over Korea Republic in the final at a packed Stadium Australia.

Few observers pencilled Qatar in as pre-tournament favourites for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, but the Félix Sánchez-led side produced a superb month of football to claim a dominant maiden title in the United Arab Emirates.

 

In the first ever 24-team AFC Asian Cup, the Qataris were untouchable - winning all seven of their matches, scoring 19 goals and conceding just one as Almoez Ali and Akram Afif dazzled the Continent with a series of brilliant performances.

Appointed in 1998 after nearly a decade coaching in Africa, Frenchman Philippe Troussier led a swashbuckling Japan side to a second AFC Asian Cup title in Lebanon in 2000,

 

The Samurai Blue scored 21 goals in just six matches, inflicting heavy losses on Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Iraq, before defeating the defending champion Saudis once again in the final in Beirut.

 

Troussier, who coached Qatar at the 2004 edition, will attempt to steer Vietnam to the top of the podium at Qatar 2023. 

Vieira was the architect of one of the greatest triumphs in the history of the Asian game when he led Iraq to an extraordinary AFC Asian Cup win in Southeast Asia in 2007.

 

Deeply experienced in Asian and North African football, Vieira masterminded wins over highly-ranked opponents Australia and Korea Republic, before Younis Mahmoud’s goal against Saudi Arabia sealed a history-making 1-0 win in the final in Jakarta.

 

Iraq’s win came just two months after Vieira’s appointment as head coach, adding another layer to a remarkable football story.

A Serie A winner with AC Milan in 1999, Alberto Zaccheroni became the first Italian coach to win the AFC Asian Cup when his Japan side lifted the trophy for a record fourth time in Qatar in 2011.

 

The title was achieved with a 1-0 extra-time win over Australia in Doha, with Tadanari Lee’s 109th-minute goal providing decisive.

 

Zaccheroni came close to reaching another AFC Asian Cup decider in 2019, with his United Arab Emirates outfit reaching the semi-finals on home soil.