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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced the final schedule for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, including kickoff times and match venues, on its official website on Oct. 26 (local time). / Screenshot from AFC website

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced the final schedule for the 2027 Asian Cup, including kickoff times and match venues, on its official website on Oct. 26 (local time).

The 19th edition of the Asian Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia from Jan. 7 to Feb. 5 next year, despite instability in the Middle East. Beginning with the opening match between host nation Saudi Arabia and Palestine, a total of 24 countries will compete in six groups during the group stage, which runs through Jan. 20 next year.

The round of 16 will begin on Jan. 22, followed by the quarterfinals on Jan. 28–29. The semifinals will take place on Feb. 1–2, with the highly anticipated final scheduled for Feb. 5. Both the opening match and the final will be held at the 72,000-capacity King Fahd Sports City Stadium in Riyadh.

South Korea will compete in Group E alongside the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vietnam and Yemen.

South Korea will play its opening match against Yemen at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 10 next year, followed by its second match against Vietnam at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 15. The team will face the UAE in its final group-stage match at Imam Mohammed bin Saud University Stadium in Riyadh at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 20.

Meanwhile, South Korea's interim head coach Albert Moreno will announce the national team squad for two international friendly matches in November at 2 p.m. on Oct. 29 in the main auditorium of Korea Football Park in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

Next month's international match window runs from Nov. 9 to 17. Considering that squad announcements have typically been made about a week before players assemble, this announcement is scheduled three to four days earlier than initially expected. This has prompted speculation that interim coach Moreno may clarify his position on rumors of the simultaneous retirement from international football of three players born in 1996 — Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang In-beom (Porto) and Hwang Hee-chan (Schalke) — which emerged during the September and October international match windows.

The Korea Football Association, however, has dismissed such speculation, saying there is no particular reason for the timing. Moreno is scheduled to travel to Europe this weekend to assess the physical condition of South Korean players based at European clubs.

                                                                                                           Cho Seong-jun