2019 WAFF Championship
The 2019 West Asian Football Federation Championship, also called Asiacell WAFF Championship Iraq 2019 due to sponsorship by Asiacell, was the 9th edition of the WAFF Championship, an international tournament for member nations of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). It was hosted in Iraq for the first time, in the cities of Karbala and Erbil.
| بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم 2019 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Iraq |
| Dates | 30 July – 14 August |
| Teams | 9 (from 1 sub-confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Bahrain (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Iraq |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 34 (2 per match) |
| Attendance | 148,683 (8,746 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Hussein Ali (3 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Hussein Ali |
The tournament was meant to be held from 8 to 17 December 2017 in Amman, Jordan, but was postponed to a later date, and subsequently moved to Iraq on 21 May 2018. It was then expected to be held in November 2018, but yet again postponed to July–August 2019.
All WAFF members, excluding title holders Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, participated in the competition. Of the nine teams, seven had also appeared in the previous tournament in 2014. A total of 17 matches were played in two venues across two cities. The final took place on 14 August at the Karbala Sports City in Karbala, between hosts Iraq and Bahrain. Bahrain won the match 1–0 to claim their first WAFF Championship title, marking the second consecutive title won by a Gulf team.