Following a thrilling semi-final victory over Iran 3-2 in the 82nd minute, Qatar managed to go to the Asian Cup final against Jordan on Wednesday.
Holders and hosts After defeating Iran 3-2 in a thrilling semifinal on Wednesday, thanks to a goal in the 82nd minute, Qatar advanced to play Jordan in the Asian Cup final. By scoring in Doha, Almoez Ali helped Qatar overcome the disappointment of losing in the first round of the 2022 World Cup and advance to their second consecutive final. A little more than a year ago, Qatar suffered the poorest record of any host in the competition’s history—losing all three of their World Cup matches at home.
But after an exhilarating match at Al Thumama Stadium, that was all a distant memory as they celebrated in front of nearly 40,000 spectators.
Iran took the lead with fourth-minute goal by Sardour Azmoun, while Qatar quickly tied the score with a deflection on Jassem Gaber’s attempt.
Just before halftime, Iran equalized through a penalty kick by Alireza Jahanbakhsh early in the second half, but not before Qatar’s Akram Afif scored his fifth goal of the competition with a brilliant strike.
winner of the match Prior to the tournament’s semifinals, Ali had only scored one goal. However, in 2019, he set an Asian Cup record with nine goals to help Qatar win their first championship.
Qatar’s late strike proved to be worthwhile as it prevented Iran from winning its first Asian championship since 1976.
In injury time during the second half, Iran’s Shojae Khalilzadeh was sent off, and in the last minute, Jahanbakhsh struck the post.
With a well-executed finish that sent the ball over his head and into the net, Azmoun handed Iran the lead just moments into the match.
Soon after, Jahanbakhsh set Mehdi Taremi up in front of goal, and he should have made it two. However, Qatar punished them with an equalizer in the seventeenth minute.
As the action moved at a lightning-fast pace, Ali gave Qatar the lead back by deftly deflecting an Abdulaziz Hatem shot beyond Beiranvand.
The goal had more than a hint of offside, yet it was nevertheless declared valid.
