Asian Cup, Host Nation Qatar Beats Jordan, Held by Korea, To Achieve Second Consecutive Victory
Qatar Afif, who scored a hat trick using only PKs, dominated the top scorer and MVP
Qatar, the host country of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup,
defeated Jordan in the final and won the tournament for the second time in a row.
The Qatar won the championship by beating Jordan 3-1 in the 2023 Asian Cup final held at Lusail Stadium in Qatar on the 11th (Korean time),
led by Akram Afif, who scored three goals through penalty kicks. 슬롯사이트
With this, Qatar won its second consecutive Asian Cup title following the 2019 tournament held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Qatar is the 5th country to have won the Asian Cup more than twice, following Japan (4 times),
the country with the most wins, Saudi Arabia, Iran (3 times), and Korea (2 times).
Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup and this year’s Asian Cup and won the Asian Cup trophy in succession,
solidifying its presence as an emerging soccer powerhouse in Asia.
Before 2019, Qatar had never been to the World Cup finals and its best performance in the Asian Cup was the quarterfinals,
but since then, it has hosted major tournaments one after another and won back-to-back Asian Cup titles.
Jordan, who had tied 2-2 with Korea in the group stage of this tournament and won 2-0 against Korea in the semifinals,
had to be satisfied with reaching the semifinals and finals of the Asian Cup for the first time and finishing as runners-up.
Qatar received $5 million (approximately KRW 6.665 billion) in prize money as the winner, and Jordan,
the runner-up, received $3 million (approximately KRW 4 billion).
Qatar’s ace Akram Afif was the top scorer in the tournament, scoring a total of eight goals,
including three through penalty kicks in the final,
and even swept the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
The best goalkeeper award went to Qatar’s Messial Barsham,
and the fair play award went to Qatar, ending the tournament with a ‘Qatar feast’.
In the final held on this day at Lusail Stadium,
the venue of the Qatar World Cup final where Lionel Messi’s Argentina ascended to the top of the world,
Qatar took the lead with Afif’s penalty kick goal in the 22nd minute of the first half.
Afif, who was breaking through the left side of the penalty area,
was pushed down by Jordan’s Abdullah Nasib and kicked the penalty kick himself.
Jordan leveled the score at 1-1 with a left-footed shot from Yazan Al-Naimat,
who scored the opening goal in the semifinal against Korea,
after calmly receiving a cross from the right side in the 22nd minute of the second half,
but conceding another goal through a penalty kick in the 6th minute and let the flow go.
The scene where Ismail Mohammad tripped Mahmoud Almardi was declared a penalty kick after the referee’s on-field review, and Afif,
who took the kicker again, gave Qatar the lead.
Afif was blocked and fell by Jordan goalkeeper Yazid Abulaila as he entered the penalty area in extra time in the second half,
and this scene was also ruled a penalty kick through an on-field review.
Afif kicked this penalty kick with his right foot, completing the hat trick and Qatar’s victory.
Meanwhile, Korea, which was evaluated as having the strongest power of all time,
led by Captain Son Heung-min (Tottenham), and attempted to win the championship for the first time in 64 years,
was previously eliminated after losing to Jordan in the semifinals.
The prize money given to the losing team in the semifinals is $1 million (about 1.333 billion won).
The next Asian Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027.