1956 AFC Asian Cup
| Asian Cup Hong Kong 1956 1956年亞洲盃足球賽  | |
|---|---|
![]() South Korea, the winner of 1956 AFC Asian Cup, at Hong Kong Stadium  | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Hong Kong | 
| Dates | 1–15 September | 
| Teams | 4 | 
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Third place | |
| Fourth place | |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 | 
| Goals scored | 27 (4.5 per match) | 
| Attendance | 121,000 (20,167 per match) | 
| Top scorer(s) | (4 goals)  | 
1960 →   | |
The 1956 AFC Asian Cup was the inaugural AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial continental association football competition introduced and organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The final tournament was held in Hong Kong from 1 September to 15 September 1956 as a four-team round-robin competition with no final. It was won by South Korea.[1][2]
An unusual ruling meant that all games were 80 minutes long, with an extra 30 minutes extra time if the game was drawn at full time (although this didn’t happen due to bad light).[3]
Venues
| Hong Kong | |
|---|---|
| Government Stadium | |
| Capacity: 28,000 | |
Qualification

| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearance | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosts | N/A | 0 (debut) | |
| Central Zone winners | 24 May 1956 | 0 (debut) | |
| Eastern Zone winners | 2 September 1956 | 0 (debut) | |
| Western Zone winners (Automatically qualified since other nations withdrew) | 1956 | 0 (debut) | 
Squads
Results
All times are Hong Kong Time (UTC+8)
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 5 | Champions | |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | Runners-up | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 2 | Third place | |
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 1 | Fourth place | 
| South Korea  | 2–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Kim Ji-sung  Sung Nak-woon  |  Tang Yee Kit  Ko Po Keung  |  
| Israel  | 1–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Stelmach  |  Woo Sang-kwon  Sung Nak-woon  |  
| South Vietnam  | 2–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Trần Văn Tổng  Lê Hữu Đức  |  Chu Wing Wah  Lau Chi Lam  |  
| Israel  | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Stelmach  |  Trần Văn Tổng  |  
| South Korea  | 5–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sung Nak-woon  Woo Sang-kwon Choi Chung-min  |  Trải Văn Đào  Lê Hữu Đức  |  
Winners
| AFC Asian Cup 1956 winners | 
|---|
South Korea First title  | 
Goalscorers
With four goals, Nahum Stelmach is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 27 goals were scored by 15 different players, with none of them credited as own goal.
4 goals
3 goals
 Sung Nak-woon
 Woo Sang-kwon
 Lê Hữu Đức
2 goals
 Au Chi Yin
 Yehoshua Glazer
 Choi Chung-min
 Trần Văn Tổng
1 goal
 Chu Wing Wah
 Ko Po Keung
 Lau Chi Lam
 Tang Yee Kit
 Kim Ji-sung
 Trải Văn Đào
References
- ^ "Asian Cup: Know Your History - Part One (1956-1988) | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
 - ^ "1956 AFC Asian Cup". Retrieved 4 December 2021.
 - ^ "Inside World Football - Asian Cup 1956". Retrieved 13 June 2023.
 
- Jovanovic, Bojan; Panahi, Majeed; Veroeveren, Pieter. "Asian Nations Cup 1956". RSSSF.
 

