The 17th edition of the Continental championship was the biggest-ever AFC Asian Cup with an expansion from 16 to 24 teams, with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system also being introduced from the quarter-final stage..

The report offers a summary of the tournament, which was held across eight stadiums in four cities, from the opening match between hosts United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to the grand finale, where Qatar beat Japan 3-1 to clinch their first-ever AFC Asian Cup title.

With the ink still drying on another memorable chapter in the competition's proud history, the-AFC.com looks back at some of the notable numbers and statistical highlights of the 17th edition of Asia's biggest football tournament.

Fans from the 24 participating nations added colour and exuberance to the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 in the eight stadiums across four host cities - Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

Ali’s nine-goal haul makes him the most successful striker at a single AFC Asian Cup Finals ever with his total surpassing the great Ali Daei’s record, which was achieved the last time the tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates in 1996.

That tally saw him finish as the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 topscorer as well as claim the Most Valuable Player award, but despite an impressive personal haul, Ali is already setting his sights further forward.

Qatar, having never advanced beyond the quarter-finals in their previous appearances in the Continental showpiece, were a revelation in UAE 2019 as Felix Sanchez's team recorded seven wins to emerge champions on February 1.

Four of the seven wins were recorded against former AFC Asian Cup winners - Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Korea Republic and Japan - and Xavi said it was just reward for the efforts the Qatar Football Association (QFA) had put in preparing the team.

The astonishing impact of the biggest-ever AFC Asian Cup was felt across all social platforms with the AFC Asian Cup Facebook page reaching 169.4 million impressions, a staggering increase by more than fifteen times from the 11 million reach four years ago.

Adding to this, fans also made their voices heard on Twitter, which received over 106.5 million impressions compared to three million in the last edition.

The biggest rise, however, was felt on the tournament’s official Instagram account, which garnered an astonishing reach of nearly 132.4 million compared to the one million engaged in Australia, as another 52.8 million impressions were garnered on Instagram stories.

The pair both found the net brilliantly in an inspirational first half for Qatar, while, despite a spirited second-half display from Japan, Akram Afif added a late penalty to secure the West Asian nation’s first-ever Continental crown in spectacular fashion.

On a historic night for the Qataris, Felix Sanchez’s talented charges recorded their seventh successive victory, while Ali’s ninth strike of the competition saw him break Ali Daei’s record for the most goals by a player in a single edition of Asia’s premier event.

While there was unbridled joy for Qatar, the defeat ended Japanese hopes of claiming what would have been a record-extending fifth title.