Quality hosts
Qatar will host the AFC Asian Cup for the third time, having previously done so in 1988 and 2011. 

 

Tough task
Qatar will be attempting to do what has only been achieved once in the previous seven editions - win the title on home soil. Australia (2015) are the last team to have done so. 

Amazing record 
Qatar won all seven of their games at the AFC Asian Cup 2019, conceding only a single goal across the entire tournament; those seven wins are more than they had won in all of their 32 previous games at the tournament (W6 D11 L15).

Early advantage 
Qatar defeated China PR 2-0 in their previous clash at the AFC Asian Cup (2011). This came after they lost three such games in a row from 1992 to 2004. They also faced Lebanon in the 2019 edition (a 2-0 win). However, they have never met Tajikistan in this competition before.

Goal machine
Qatar scored 19 goals at the 2019 edition of the AFC Asian Cup, 9.6 more than their Expected Goals for the tournament; no other team outpaced their xG by even one third (Iraq +3).

 

Mercurial 
Akram Afif created 26 scoring chances at the 2019 edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the most of any player at any of the last four editions of the tournament and 12 more than any other player in 2019.