2016 Asia-Pacific Cup (Eastern Manifest Destiny)

2016 Asia-Pacific Cup
Tournament details
Host country	China (Eastern Manifest Destiny)
Dates	13 Oct - 6 Nov
Teams	16
Venue(s)	5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	{{country data Mexico (2nd title) \| flaglink/core \| variant = \| size = \| name = \| altlink = national football team \| altvar = football }}
Runners-up	{{country data Japan \| flaglink/core \| variant = \| size = \| name = \| altlink = national football team \| altvar = football }}
Third place	{{country data China \| flaglink/core \| variant = \| size = \| name = \| altlink = national football team \| altvar = football }}
Fourth place	{{country data Malaysia \| flaglink/core \| variant = \| size = \| name = \| altlink = national football team \| altvar = football }}
Tournament statistics
Matches played	38
Attendance	3,589,112 (94,450 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Javier Hernández
Best player	Keisuke Honda
	← 2012 / 2020 →

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Cup was the 17th Asia-Pacific Cup. It took place in China from 13 October to 6 November, after the country was awarded hosting rights in 2008. It was the third time China staged the competition (1956 and 1976 being the two other times) and the first time Shanghai participated with a separate team in any international competition.

15 teams from the Asia-Pacific advanced through qualification competitions to join the host nation in the final competition. A total of 38 matches were played in 5 venues in 5 host cities across China. This was also the first competition outside the FIFA World Cup to use goal-line technology, as well as vanishing foam for free kicks. APC Fan Fests were held in each host city, attracting over 5 million people.

Every APC-winning team since the first edition in 1952 (China, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Canada and Russia) qualified for this tournament. Chile, the title holders, were eliminated during the group stages, along with Canada and Australia. Argentina and Russia were eliminated during the round of 8. China was eliminated in the semi-finals and Japan in the finals. China, who had won the 1972, 2000, and 2008 AP Cups, were defeated decisively 2-1 by Mexico. In the final, Mexico defeated Japan 1-0 to win the tournament and secure the country's second Asia-Pacific title.

Host selection

During the summer of 2007, the APFA announced that host bids were being taken for the 2016 Asia-Pacific Cup. China, Japan, Mexico, and Chile all announced official candidacy, but due to some financial problems, Chile officially withdrew from the bid. Shortly after, Japan, who had just been selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup 3 weeks after they submitted their APC bid, had to withdraw. This left China and Mexico. China won a marginal 6-4 vote and was selected to host the 2016 Asia-Pacific Cup on August 15, 2008.

Participating Teams

Following qualification matches played between June 2009 and November 2011, the following 16 teams, shown with their pre-tournament APFA rankings, qualified for the tournament. 13 of the 15 teams that qualified were returning participants from the 2012 Asia-Pacific Cup. Shanghai qualified for the first time as separate team from China, while Indonesia returns after 56 years of absence.