Hosts Qatar beat Iran 3-2 to reach the Asian Cup final and continue to the defence of their continental title. They will now face surprise finalists Jordan in the final on February 10.
Iran led through Sardar Azmoun’s sensational overhead kick in the fourth minute. However, goals from Jassem Gaber and Akram Afif put Qatar ahead before half time.
In the 51st minute, the tie was levelled again after Alireza Jahanbakhsh calmly slotted the spot-kick straight down the middle following a VAR review. Goalline clearances at both ends of the pitch kept the tense encounter level until Almoez Ali picked out the bottom corner with less than 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
In an eventful game, Iran’s Shoja Khalilzadeh was also sent off in stoppage time.
Qatar bidding to make history
With this defeat Iran’s hopes of reaching their first final since 1976 were quashed, but Qatar are chasing their own piece of history. Having won the last edition of the continental competition, they are hoping to become the first nation since Japan in 2000 and 2004 to win the Asian Cup back-to-back.
Thus the final will witness history one way or another. Qatar’s opponent’s in the final will be first time finalists Jordan who stunned South Korea in the semis 2-0. The final will be played at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar on Saturday, February 10.
Will Qatar reign supreme on home turf yet again or will Jordan pull off a seismic shock to clinch a first Asian Cup title?
Sherjeel Malik is the editor at FanHaat with a writing experience in multiple sports. He oversees the editorial and content coverage at FanHaat and writes often around combat sports, football and other marquee sports. A professional highlight of his career was when WWE’s Paul Heyman shared one of his articles on his social media.
Apart from writing, editing and watching sports, he likes to indulge in reading fiction, watching war documentaries and is a fan of Liverpool FC
