The Asian Football Confederation has published the full schedule for the 2027 Asian Cup, and it keeps the tournament in Saudi Arabia on its original dates. The hosts open against Palestine at Riyadh's 72,000-seat King Fahd Sports City Stadium on 7 January, and the final returns to the same ground on 5 February.
The 24-team, 51-match tournament runs for 29 days across eight venues: five in Riyadh, two in Jeddah and one in Al-Khobar. The group stage ends on 20 January and the knockout rounds begin two days later. Defending champions Qatar start against Thailand on 11 January, the same day Japan meet Indonesia. Australia's first opponents are Singapore. South Korea play Yemen, and Iran play China.
The schedule settles the dates on paper, not the doubts. Several federations have raised security concerns after weeks of missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, and last week Japan's football chief said it would "not be easy" to hold the Cup there as planned. AFC president Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa has said the tournament could move back to 2028 if needed, with a decision possible by the end of November. On the same day the schedule came out, the Dakar Rally confirmed it will leave Saudi Arabia for its 2027 edition.
This is the first Asian Cup Saudi Arabia has hosted, seven years before it stages the 2034 World Cup.
Source
Original summary by Proventier.