4TH ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
The 1968 edition of the Asian Cup saw the participation of 14 teams in the initial round and the emergence of some new faces. Little known Myanmar, formally known as Burma, topped the table in group one with a clean score sheet. Hong Kong finally reached the final round by sweeping aside all it's Southeast Asian neighbors. Group 3 saw Taiwan overcome the South Korean giants to reach Teheran. The hosts, Iran and holders, Israel rounded out the five teams in the 1968 Asian Cup Finals. In 1968, the finals would be played on a league basis for the final time and would be the start of Iran's reign as Asia's top footballing nation. In front of 30,000 partisan fans Iran lifted its first Asian Cup with convincing wins over surprise challengers Myanmar and Israel. First-time participant Myanmar were the runners-up followed by Israel and Taiwan, who took third and fourth, respectively.
Final Match : 19th May 1968 Iran vs. Israel 2 -1 Scorers: Iran (Behzadi ; Parviz Ghleechkhani ) Israel (Spiegel) Referee: Alex Joseph Vaz (India ) Iran: Aziz Asli ; Mehrab Shahrokhi ; Jaafar Kashani ;Hassan Habibi ; Mostafa Arab; Fariborz Ismaeli ; Parviz Ghleechkhani ; Gholam Hussain Farzami ; Asghar Sharafi ; Hossein Kalani ; Akbar Eftekhari Sub:Homayoon Behzadi Israel : Itzik Visoker ; Itzhak Drucker; Zvi Rozen; Shmuel Rosenthal ;Menahem Bello; Giora Spiegel; Moshe Asis ;Mordechai Spiegler; Rahamim Talbi ;Reuven Young ; Haim Nurieli |
| FINALS |
|---|
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF:GA | PTS. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iran | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11:2 | 8 |
| Israel | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11:4 | 4 |
| Myanmar | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4:4 | 3 |
| Chinese Taipei | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3:10 | 2 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2:11 | 1 |
| [1] | Tehran |
10-May-68 |
Iran vs. Chinese Taipei | 4:0 |
| [2] | Tehran | 10-May-68 | Hong Kong vs. Myanmar | 0:2 |
| [3] | Tehran |
12-May-68 |
Chinese Taipei vs. Myanmar | 1:1 |
| [4] | Tehran |
12-May-68 |
Israel vs. Hong Kong | 6:1 |
| [5] | Tehran |
14-May-68 |
Hong Kong vs. Iran | 0:2 |
| [6] | Tehran |
14-May-68 |
Myanmar vs. Israel | 1:0 |
| [7] | Tehran | 16-May-68 | Iran vs. Myanmar | 3:1 |
| [8] | Tehran | 17-May-68 | Chinese Taipei vs. Israel | 1:4 |
| [9 | Tehran | 19-May-68 | Chinese Taipei vs. Hong Kong | 1:1 |
| [10] | Tehran | 19-May-68 | Iran vs. Israel | 2:1 |
Preliminary Rounds
| WESTERN ZONE 1 |
|---|
| GROUP 1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF:GA | PTS. |
| Myanmar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5:0 | 6 |
| Cambodia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4:2 | 4 |
| Pakistan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1:4 | 1 |
| India | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2:6 | 1 |
| [1] | Myanmar | Myanmar vs. India | 2:0 | |
| [2] | Myanmar | Pakistan vs. Cambodia | 0:1 | |
| [3] | Myanmar | India vs. Pakistan | 1:1 | |
| [4] | Myanmar | Myanmar vs. Cambodia | 1:0 | |
| [5] | Myanmar | Cambodia vs. India | 3:1 | |
| [6] | Myanmar | Myanmar vs. Pakistan | 2:0 |
| WESTERN ZONE 2 |
|---|
| GROUP 2 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF:GA | PTS. |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9:1 | 8 |
| Thailand | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5:4 | 4 |
| Vietnam SR | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4:4 | 4 |
| Malaysia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4:5 | 3 |
| Singapore | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2:10 | 1 |
| [1] | Hong Kong | Hong Kong vs. Thailand | 2:0 | |
| [2] | Hong Kong | Hong Kong vs. Vietnam SR | 2:0 | |
| [3] | Hong Kong | Hong Kong vs. Malaysia | 3:1 | |
| [4] | Hong Kong | Hong Kong vs. Singapore | 2:0 | |
| [5] | Hong Kong | Thailand vs. Vietnam SR | 0:1 | |
| [6] | Hong Kong | Thailand vs. Malaysia | 1:0 | |
| [7] | Hong Kong | Thailand vs. Singapore | 4:1 | |
| [8] | Hong Kong | Vietnam SR vs. Malaysia | 0:2 | |
| [9] | Hong Kong | Vietnam SR vs. Singapore | 3:0 | |
| [10] | Hong Kong | Malaysia vs. Singapore | 1:1 |
| EASTERN ZONE |
|---|
| GROUP 3 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF:GA | PTS. |
| Chinese Taipei | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15:4 | 7 |
| Japan | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8:4 | 7 |
| Korea Republic | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9:4 | 3 |
| Indonesia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10:6 | 3 |
| Philippines | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0:24 | 0 |
| [1] | Chinnese Taipei | Chinese Taipei vs. Philippines | 9:0 | |
| [2] | Chinnese Taipei | Indonesia vs. Korea Republic | 1:1 | |
| [3] | Chinnese Taipei | Chinese Taipei vs. Japan | 2:2 | |
| [4] | Chinnese Taipei | Indonesia vs. Philippines | 6:0 | |
| [5] | Chinnese Taipei | Japan vs. Korea Republic | 2:1 | |
| [6] | Chinnese Taipei | Japan vs. Philippines | 2:0 | |
| [7] | Chinnese Taipei | Chinese Taipei vs. Indonesia | 3:2 | |
| [8] | Chinnese Taipei | Korea Republic vs. Philippines | 7:0 | |
| [9] | Chinnese Taipei | Japan vs. Indonesia | 2:1 | |
| [10] | Chinnese Taipei | Chinese Taipei vs. Korea Republic | 1:0 |
Return to Asian Cup Index page
Last updated on Wednesday, June 11, 2008