Three years ahead of Qatar’s World Cup the spotlight will come to United Arab Emirates. AFC announced today, that Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain will definitely hold the Asian Cup of 2019.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced today that United Arab Emirates will host the 2019 Asian Cup. It’s the soonest upcoming edition and second time it comes to the Emirates after 1996.

Games are certain to take place in three cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain. It’s the exact same list as in 1996, but event venues will all be different. In Abu Dhabi it’s the country’s largest football-specific stadium, the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium. In Al Ain our recent Stadium of the Year winner, Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium. Meanwhile in Dubai it’s the new Sports City Main Stadium, a 60,000-giant currently under construction.

This time three stadiums won’t be enough for the AFC tournament, which is why a fourth city is considered. It would most likely be Sharjah, though it’s not clear whether current, revamped or new stadium would be used.

Below the stadia already certain of hosting games:

Dubai Sports City Stadium, 60,000

© Dubai Sports City

Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, 42,056

Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, 25,000

© HBZ Stadium