Before the match, South Korea had reached the AFC Asian Cup final three times (1972, 1980 and 1988), finishing runners-up in all attempts since a knockout system was introduced.

Prior to the tournament, the two finalists had previously met each other 26 times, with South Korea winning nine games and Australia ten.

South Korea was first crowned champions of Asia in the inaugural 1956 edition of the Asian Cup, held in Hong Kong.

After remaining scoreless at the end of extra time, the match was decided in a penalty shoot-out, with the Saudis taking home the title through a 4–3 win.

[6] The venue was chosen in preference to Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, which was instead selected to host the opening match of the tournament between Australia and Kuwait.

[7] Both South Korea and Australia were drawn into Group A of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, along with lower ranked sides Oman and Kuwait.

Hussain Fadhel's eighth-minute header had briefly dampened spirits at a sold out Melbourne Rectangular Stadium only for Massimo Luongo to set up Tim Cahill on the 33rd minute to equalise with his 37th international goal.

Goals from Matt McKay, Robbie Kruse, Tomi Jurić and a penalty scored by Mark Milligan gave Australia a 0–4 win.

Cahill opened the scoring shortly after the half-time break before doubling the lead midway through the second-half, ensuring Australia reached the last four.

A 2–0 result with goals from Trent Sainsbury and Jason Davidson sent Australia into their second consecutive Asian Cup final.

[20] Stielike made one change to the line-up that saw off Iraq in the semi-finals, calling up Jang Hyun-soo to partner Ki Sung-yueng in the middle to allow Park Joo-ho to sit in front of Kim Jin-su on the left, while Ivan Franjić was passed fit for an unchanged Australian side.

The game opened at a frantic pace and, by the end of the half, Australia had taken the lead against the run of play after South Korea had spurned several opportunities to put themselves on the scoreboard.

Tim Cahill had earlier forced Kim Jin-hyeon into action in the South Korean goal, the keeper diving to his left to push the Australian's effort around the post after holding off the challenge of Kwak Tae-hwi, who had sent his own header just wide mere seconds later at the other end.

Trent Sainsbury's ball into the feet of Luongo allowed him to turn and beat Ki Sung-yueng before hitting a low, unstoppable right-foot effort beyond Kim Jin-hyeon, conceding South Korea its first goal in the tournament.

[22] Man of the Match: Trent Sainsbury (Australia)[23] Assistant referees: Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammad Reza Abolfazli (Iran) Fourth official: Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia) Fifth official: Abdulla Al-Shalawi (Saudi Arabia) Match rules:[24]

[27] Nonetheless, Son Heung-min's bright performance throughout the competition made him attractive to major giants in Europe, which led him to transfer from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Tottenham.

[28] Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was invited to attend but did not due to vote counting for the 2015 Queensland state election taking place at the same time.