Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob César Ramos Ahmed Al-Kaf Abdulrahman Al-Jassim Khamis Al-Kuwari Khamis Al-Marri Turki Al-Khudhayr Muhammad Taqi Hettikamkanamge Perera Ammar Al-Jeneibi Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed Ravshan Irmatov Valentin Kovalenko Ilgiz Tantashev Assistant referees Matthew Cream Anton Shchetinin Mohamed Salman Yaser Tulefat Cao Yi Huo Weiming Mohammadreza Mansouri Reza Sokhandan Jun Mihara Hiroshi Yamauchi Mohammad Al-Kalaf Ahmad Al-Roalleh Park Sang-jun Yoon Kwang-yeol Sergei Grishchenko Mohd Yusri Muhamad Mohd Zainal Abidin Miguel Hernández Alberto Morín Abu Bakar Al-Amri Rashid Al-Ghaithi Saud Al-Maqaleh Taleb Al-Marri Mohammed Al-Bakri Ronnie Koh Min Kiat Palitha Hemathunga Mohamed Al-Hammadi Hasan Al-Mahri Abdukhamidullo Rasulov Jakhongir Saidov Video assistant referees Paolo Valeri Danny Makkelie Stand-by referees Nivon Robesh Gamini Hanna Hattab Stand-by assistant referees Ali Ubaydee Priyanga Palliya Guruge Venues After being awarded the bid, initially the UAE chose six stadiums to host the tournament. The six stadiums were Zayed Sports City Stadium and Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium and Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, and Dubai's Al Ahli Stadium and DSC Stadium. Later, two stadiums in Dubai were dropped due to financial problems and were replaced by Al Maktoum Stadium and Rashid Stadium, which were also located in Dubai. After the 2015 Asian Cup, the AFC agreed to increase the number of teams from 16 to 24, following the UEFA Euro 2016. Hence, more stadiums were about to be chosen and rebuilt, in which Sharjah and Abu Dhabi won the rights to have more stadiums for the tournament. Sharjah Stadium and Al Nahyan Stadium were chosen aftermath, finalized the number of stadium to eight. The eight venues used are Zayed Sports City Stadium, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, and Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium and Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, Al Maktoum Stadium and Rashid Stadium in Dubai, and Sharjah Stadium in Sharjah. Format The tournament was expanded to 24 teams from the previous format of 16 teams, which had been used since 2004. Only the hosts will receive an automatic qualification spot, while the other 23 teams will qualify through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams each. The teams in each group play a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams and the four best third teams will advance to the knockout stage, beginning with the