Qatar Retain Asian Cup After Shocking Jordan

With a 3-1 victory over shocking Jordan on Saturday, the hosts Qatar won the Asian Cup once again, and local hero Akram Afif scored a hat-trick of penalties.

It was a suitable way to round off a month of football that saw several exciting games and started with 24 teams.

Additionally, it will aid in erasing memories of Qatar’s disastrous World Cup performance, in which they lost all three games—the poorest record of any host in the rivalry’s history.

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Playing in front of 86,492 spectators at Lusail Stadium, which staged the World Cup final 14 months ago, Jordan were in their first Asian Cup final and contesting the biggest game in their history.

Ranked 87th in FIFA’s world rankings, 29 places below their opponents, they fell behind midway through the first half when forward Afif held his nerve with a penalty for his sixth goal of the tournament