3-2! The Asian Cup final is out! The defending champion is in a frenzy, and the five favorites are all out

The second match of the Asian Cup semi-finals was played with the host and defending champions Qatar taking on the favourites Iran. In terms of FIFA world rankings, Qatar is 58th in Asia, 6th in Asia, Iran is 21st in Asia, and 2nd in Asia, with a difference of 35 places in the world rankings between the two sides. However, the final result was that Qatar beat Iran 3-2 to reach the final.

As the host, Qatar did not encounter any obstacles in the group stage, beating Lebanon by 3 goals and Tajikistan by 1 goal, and the final round was a big rotation of the national football team. However, in the knockout stage, Qatar took one hurdle at a time, first reversing Palestine 2-1 under the "escort" of Manin, and then narrowly winning the penalty shootout with Uzbekistan. In these five games, Qatar has not faced any of the favorites from Japan, South Korea, Isa and Australia, so this semi-final spot has always made fans feel lacking. And the semi-final against Iran is a litmus test for Qatar.

In contrast, fans were more optimistic about the Iranian team before the game. In the group stage, the Iranian team also won 3 in a row. After narrowly beating Syria on penalties in the quarterfinals, Iran defeated Japan 2-1 with a tough press. After South Korea's 0-2 upset was blocked out of the final by Jordan, Iran is undoubtedly the biggest favorite to win the title. Moreover, in the past 11 years, the two sides have met 5 times, and the Iranian team has won all of them, so the outside world generally believes that the top four is the limit of Qatar.

In terms of starters, Qatar's Afif and Ali led the attacking line, Haydos was on standby, and Iran's Azmoun, Jahanbakhsh, and Taremi formed a trident.

In the first half of the game, the two sides played at the level of the Premier League. Just three minutes into the opening period, Iran got off to a dream start. Jahanbakhsh took a grenade throw-in and Azmoun picked up a team-mate's ferry and volleyed home the opener. In the 16th minute, Qatar fought back, Afif picked the ball in the penalty area in the face of a four-man defense, protected it, and passed it, Gaber met the ball and volleyed it to the Iranian player, and a curve went past the goalkeeper and into the net, and the score became 1-1. In the 42nd minute, Qatar made a steal in front, and Afif scored a 1V3 shot into the far corner on the left side to score the world wave, and Qatar overtook 2-1. In addition to these three goals, there were no urine points throughout the whole time, Taremi missed several opportunities, and Afif singled out the Iranian backline, which was even more addictive.

In the second half, Ezatorahi hit the hands of Fathi, and the referee looked at the VAR and pointed to 12 yards, and Jahanbakh made it 2-2 with the two sides on the same line. Subsequently, the attack between the two sides became more tense and intense, and both staged extreme goal-line clearances. However, as the game approached the 80th minute, the tempo dropped and it seemed that the game was going to go to extra time. However, in the 82nd minute, Hatem's long-range shot kicked and the ball ghost fell to the feet of Ali in the middle of the penalty area, Ali turned and volleyed, the referee determined that the goal was valid, and Qatar completed the stunner. In stoppage time, Khalizadeh brought down the one-on-one Afif and was sent off. Although there were 13 minutes of extra stoppage time, Iran had one man less. In the final moments, Jahanbakhsh hit the post and missed the equalizer. In the end, Qatar defeated Iran 3-2 to reach the final.

After the game, the Qatari team fell into a carnival again, the Asian Cup final match was released, and Qatar played Jordan, which was a plot that fans would never have imagined before the start of the Asian Cup. Japan, South Korea, Isa and Australia's five favorites are all out, and the Asian football pattern has been reshuffled. In this Asian Cup, fans remember Yazan and Tamari of the Jordanian team and Afif of Qatar. Whether Qatar will achieve two consecutive championships, or the Jordanian team will be crowned as a new king, we will wait and see.