2000 WAFF Championship
The 2000 West Asian Football Federation Championship, also known as the King Hussein Cup, was the first edition of the WAFF Championship; it took part in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Iran won the final against Syria 1–0. The eight entrants were Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Kazakhstan (invited nation), Kyrgyzstan (invited nation), and host nation Jordan. The finals took place between 23 May and 3 June 2000.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Jordan |
| Dates | 23 May – 3 June |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Iran (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Syria |
| Third place | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Iraq |
| Fourth place |  Jordan |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 34 (2.13 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Razzaq Farhan (5 goals) |
The teams were grouped into two groups of four, playing a round-robin format. Semi-finals and finals followed, played by the top two teams from each group.
Participants
The first West Asian Cup was the only one with two guest members, from the Central Asian Football Association. Every country affiliated with WAFF was invited the tournament: Jordan—host nation—, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon, while two places where given two Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. A total of eight teams participated.
| Country | Appearance |
|---|---|
| Iran |
1st |
| Iraq |
1st |
| Jordan (hosts) |
1st |
 Kazakhstan (invitee) |
1st |
 Kyrgyzstan (invitee) |
1st |
 Lebanon |
1st |
 Palestine |
1st |
| Syria |
1st |
Venues
All matches took place in Amman. One stadium was used, the King Abdullah II Stadium.
|
2000 WAFF Championship (Jordan) |
Amman | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| King Abdullah II Stadium | |||
| Capacity: 20,000 | |||
 | |||
Match officials
Twenty referees and ten linesmen participated in the tournament: sixteen from participating teams, and four from neutral countries.
The following is the list of officials who served as referees and (in italic) linesmen:
|
|
|
Group stage
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iran |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 |
| Syria |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 |
| Kazakhstan |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 3 |
| Palestine |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 |
| Iran | 3–0 | Kazakhstan |
|---|---|---|
Karimi  6', 73'Hashemian 45' |
| Kazakhstan | 0–4 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
| Azzam 26' Boushi 56'Haj Moustafa 57'Al Beetar 82' |
| Palestine | 2–3 | Kazakhstan |
|---|---|---|
| Lafi 55' Al-Faran 83' |
Kadyrkulov 29', 88' Bogatyrev 43' |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iraq |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 |
| Jordan (H) |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 5 |
| Lebanon |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| Kyrgyzstan |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0 |
| Jordan | 2–0 | Kyrgyzstan |
|---|---|---|
| Abu Zema 28' (pen.) Al-Shagran 68' |
| Lebanon | 2–0 | Kyrgyzstan |
|---|---|---|
| Zein 41' Antar 76' |
| Iraq | 4–0 | Kyrgyzstan |
|---|---|---|
| Farhan 28', 35', 75' Mohammed 67' |
Knockout phase
Third place match
Final
| Iran | 1–0 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
| Bakhtiarizadeh 36' |
Champion
| 2000 WAFF Championship winners |
|---|
Iran First title |
Statistics
Goalscorers
There have been 34 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.12 goals per match.
5 goals
4 goals
2 goals
- Askhat Kadyrkulov
- Haitham Zein
- Fadi Lafi
- Mohannad Al-Beetar
1 goal
- Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh
- Vahid Hashemian
- Ali Samereh
- Hussam Fawzi
- Hamza Hadi
- Ahmad Kadhim
- Hesham Mohammed
- Abbas Obeid
- Abdullah Abu Zema
- Badran Al-Shagran
- Jeris Tadrus
- Vencheslav Bogatyrev
- Roda Antar
- Adel Al-Faran
- Ahmad Azzam
- Mouhanad Boushi
- Nihad Haj Moustafa
References
- "West Asian Championship [Malek Hussein Cup] (Jordan) 2000". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 July 2020.