Qatar will face China at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday in the final round of the 2023 Asian Cup group stage.
The tournament hosts enjoyed a strong start to their continental campaign, kicking it off with a 3-0 win over Lebanon with goals from Akram Afif and Almoez Ali. They followed that up with a 1-0 win over 10-man Tajikistan in their second group match, with Afif once again getting on the scoresheet for the Maroons.
Qatar sit top of their group with six points from a possible six and have now secured their place in the last 16 of the tournament as group winners.
China are yet to come alive in the tournament, having been held to a 0-0 draw against Tajikistan in their group opener last Saturday. They then played out a goalless draw against Lebanon last time out and perhaps deserved more from the game but were guilty of a wasteful finish.
Dragon’s Team is second in Group A with two points from two matches. They will advance to the knockout stages with a win on Monday, while a draw could be enough if Tajikistan and Lebanon draw elsewhere.
Qatar possible starting lineup:
Zakaria; Al-Rawi, Ro-Ro, Mendes, Ahmed; Meshaal, Al-Haydos, Waad; Al Ganehi, Ali, Abdurisag
China possible starting lineup:
Junling; Haofeng, Linpeng, Browning, Chenjie, Yang; Xi, Shangyuan, Liangming; Lei, Yuning
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