Qatar becomes the first team to qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup

At the start of the match, Tajikistan was in the "underdog" position but suddenly attacked and continuously created trouble for Qatar's goal. In the 12th minute, striker Rustam Soirov dribbled the ball and then fired a powerful shot from a rather narrow angle but goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham (Qatar) pushed the ball out.

Qatar then started to regain control of the game and opened the score 1-0 in the 17th minute. From a quick counter-attack, striker Almoez Ali passed the ball to Akram Afif who used his speed to run down and dribble into the penalty area before shooting past goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov (Tajikistan).

In the 43rd minute, striker Akram Afif fired a weak shot, but goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov made a mistake and missed. Almoez Ali rushed in to shoot, but defender Dzhuraboev was able to clear the shot right before the goal line to save Tajikistan.

In the following minutes, Tajikistan tried to attack to find an equalizer and almost got an equalizer in the 48th minute. From a careless pass back from a Qatar defender, striker Alisher Dzhalilov rushed down to push the ball past goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham (Qatar), but because the push was too long, he could not keep up, causing the ball to drift out of bounds.

Qatar also had many opportunities but their strikers could not take advantage of them. The most regrettable situation was in the 57th minute, Akram Afif dribbled the ball and then passed it intelligently for Almoez Ali to run down and shoot quickly but could not beat goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov.

By the 81st minute, Tajikistan had only 10 men left on the field after midfielder Amadoni Kamolov received a red card for intentionally kicking midfielder Ahmed Al-Ganehi (Qatar) in the face.

Initially, Japanese referee Hiroyuki Kimura only showed a yellow card, but after checking VAR, he canceled the yellow card and gave Kamolov a red card.

Playing with an extra man in the remaining minutes, Qatar secured a 1-0 victory over Tajikistan. With the 3 points, Qatar secured the top spot in Group A with 6 points and they secured the first place in the round of 16.

China is second in this group (2 points), followed by Tajikistan (1 point, goal difference -1), Lebanon (1 point, goal difference -3). In the final match on January 22, China will meet Qatar, Lebanon will meet Tajikistan.