Qatar have made it three wins out of three in their group at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup 2024.
Qatar defeated Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in the third match of Group B of the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers on Wednesday afternoon at the Changwon Football Center in Gyeongnam, South Korea.
The tournament is the first gateway to the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the final qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The top two teams from each of the 11 qualifying groups, the top four teams from Group 2 and host Qatar will be among the 16 teams that will compete for a spot at the U-23 Asian Cup in April-May 2024.
With back-to-back wins over South Korea (2-0) on Sept. 6 and Myanmar (6-0) on Sept. 9, Qatar has scored nine goals in three group games.
Kyrgyzstan, who drew with Myanmar in their first match before losing to South Korea, fell to Qatar by one goal on the day.
However, the result against Qatar, who automatically qualified as hosts of next year’s U-23 Asian Cup, does not count towards the group standings.
Kyrgyzstan failed to qualify for the U-23 Asian Cup with a final score of 1 (1 draw, 1 loss).
The outcome of today’s 8 p.m. match between South Korea and Myanmar will determine the final position in Group B, but even if Kyrgyzstan finishes second in the group, it will be lower than the second-place team in the other group.
Qatar and Kyrgyzstan battled for possession in the midfield in the first half.
Qatar pressed forward aggressively to prevent Kyrgyzstan from advancing, and Kyrgyzstan responded with fierce physicality.
In the 34th minute of the first half, the game reached a fever pitch when a Qatari player intentionally pushed a Kyrgyz player, causing a nervous breakdown on the ground.
Neither team created any significant scoring chances in the first half, and the score remained 0-0 to start the second half.
Qatar broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second half when forward Ilyas Brimil found the top corner of the net with a thunderous right-footed mid-range shot from outside the left penalty area.
After Qatar’s goal, both teams threatened the opponent’s goal several times, but no more goals were scored.
Kyrgyzstan had a golden opportunity in the 15th minute of the second half when they were one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but were denied by the Qatari defense. 파워볼게임