AFC Asian Cup: Qatar beats Japan in the final and becomes the ninth country to win the tournament

Qatar won the AFC Asian Cup for the first time by beating four-time AFC Asian Cup winners Japan 3-1 in the final at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi (UAE), on Friday 01/02/2019.

Qatar (who, in seven matches, conceded only one goal which was scored in the final) is the ninth country to win the Asian Cup (after South Korea, Israel, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Iraq and Australia). Before losing to Qatar, Japan had won all four finals in which they had participated (1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011). The Qatari players were welcomed in Doha (QAT) by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on 02/02/2019.

The national teams of Qatar and Japan have been invited, to participate in the 2019 Copa America organised by CONMEBOL in Brazil from 14/06 to 07/07/2019, according to the South American Confederation on 04/05/2018.

• Qatar, as host country, has automatically qualified for the XXII World Cup from 21/11 to 18/12/2022.

2019 AFC Asian Cup: audience records on social networks

• Audiences: "more than 836.6 million fans interacted through the tournament's digital…