The 2015 AFC Asian Cup is the 16th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, an international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is currently being held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015.[1] The winner of the tournament will earn the right to participate in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, which is to be hosted by Russia. Australia was chosen as the host on 5 January 2011, after being the sole bidder for the right to host the 2015 tournament. The matches are being played in five different stadiums across five cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle. It is the first time that Australia has hosted the tournament, and it is also the first time the Asian Cup has been held outside the continent of Asia. As hosts, Australia automatically qualified for the final tournament, while the remaining 15 finalists (with the exception of Japan and South Korea who qualified via their position in the previous Asian Cup) were decided through a qualification process, featuring 44 teams, from February 2013 to March 2014.