On January 25, 2024, the group stage of the "2023 Qatar Asian Cup" ushered in the third round of Group E. The two matches were contested at the same time, with South Korea and Malaysia playing in a tumultuous 3-3 draw, with South Korea finishing second in the group. In the other game, Bahrain defeated Jordan 1-0 to qualify as group winners.
Asian Cup group standings
So far, 15 places have been finalized in the round of 16 of this Asian Cup, with Bahrain advancing and the last one place remaining between Indonesia, Oman and Kyrgyzstan.
In Group E, Bahrain won all three points in the final round and finished first in the group, and will face the second Japanese men's football team in Group D in the 1/8 finals. South Korea finished second in the group with only one point in the final round, and the top of Group F in the quarter-finals is likely to be Saudi Arabia. Jordan was squeezed to third place in the group and is likely to face Qatar in the quarterfinals.
South Korea 3-3 Malaysia
With the end of the Group D schedule, Indonesia, the third place in Group D, only has three points, so South Korea, who scored four points in the first two rounds, advanced to the round of 16. Malaysia lost to Jordan and Bahrain in the first 2 rounds in a row, and the goal difference disadvantage is obvious, this game needs to beat South Korea, and it depends on the result of the other 1 game in the same group.
The two sides competed at the Janoub Stadium in Waqra, Qatar, with referee Khaled Turaith from Saudi Arabia officiating the officiator, and Shamali and Yasser Sultan from Saudi Arabia serving as assistant referees. In addition, Qatar's Jassim served as the fourth official, and VAR referee Abdullah Mali was also from Qatar.
The South Korean team was led by German star Jurgen Klinsmann, and sent Son Heung-min and Cho Gyu-sung to partner in the front line, as well as Jung You-ying, Lee Gang-in, Lee Jae-seong, Hwang In-beom, Kim Min-jae, Kim Young-kwan and other famous players to start. Malaysia was led by South Korean coach Kim Jun-kun, who sent Halim, Luiten and Aiman to partner in the attack, as well as Wilkin, Colban-Wang, Yan Xinglong, Coles, Chen Junren and other starters.
In the 21st minute, the South Korean team got a corner kick opportunity, Lee Gang-in drove to the center of the penalty area, Zheng Youying jumped up and shook his head to score the goal, and the South Korean team took a 1-0 lead.
In the 51st minute, Lu Yiteng steals Hwang In-beom on the periphery of the penalty area, Halim gets the ball and gets rid of Kim Min-jae and goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo in the penalty area in a row, and then hits the goal into the net from a small angle to score, and Malaysia equalizes.
In the 60th minute, Xue Yingyou scrambled to knock down Arif Ayman in the penalty area, and the referee reviewed VAR and awarded a penalty. Ayman then scored the ball himself as Malaysia took the lead 2-1. In the 67th minute, Malaysia played a quick counterattack and almost penetrated the door of the South Korean team again.
In the 83rd minute, South Korea won a long-distance set-piece in front, Lee Gang-in went straight to the corner, goalkeeper Sihan Hazmi saved the ball, but still could not drag the ball out, and the South Korean team equalized. Also, the goal ended up being an own goal by Hazmi.
In the 90+2nd minute, Wu Xianhua was fouled in the penalty area, and after VAR confirmation, the referee finally awarded a penalty. Then Son Heung-min scored the penalty to give South Korea the lead again.
In the 90+15th minute, Malaysia counterattacked with all its might, Morales hit the net from the outside of the penalty area, and Malaysia equalized. In the end, the two sides drew 3-3, and the South Korean team advanced to the second place in the group.
Jordan 0-1 Bahrain
Similar to the previous South Korean team, Jordan and South Korea advanced to the round of 16 at the same time, and they had a goal difference advantage over South Korea before the game, and it was relatively advantageous to compete for the top spot in the group. Bahrain had previously lost to South Korea, won three points from Malaysia, and a draw in the final round would ensure promotion, even if they lose by one goal, they will most likely qualify.
The match was played at the Al al-Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar, with referee Omar Ali from the United Arab Emirates and two assistant referees, Al Hamadi and Mahri, also from the United Arab Emirates. Chinese referee Ma Ning served as the fourth official, and Zhou Fei served as the alternate referee. In addition, the VAR referee was Hassan Mohammed of the UAE.
The Jordan team is led by Moroccan coach Almota, and the starting team of this game is led by Nijmat single arrow, followed by Cisa and Ulwan, as well as Awad, Yassin, Moussa, Hashesh, Fadler and other starters. Led by Spanish coach Juan Pizzi, Bahrain started the game with Hilal as a lone striker, followed by Mu Mahon, Aswad and Ali Madan, as well as Hayyam, Bajir and Harasi.
In the 34th minute, the Bahrain team made a quick pass after a midfield steal to form a single knife, and No. 9 Abdullah Hilal took the ball to the periphery of the penalty area and hit the goal directly, and the Bahrain team led Jordan 1-0. After that, the score was not changed, and Bahrain eventually beat Jordan 1-0 to move up to the top of the group and advance to the round of 16.