The 22-year-old Al Duhail SC forward was in rampant form throughout the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Group E encounter with DPR Korea, scoring twice in the first half before adding two more after the break as Qatar recorded a 6-0 win.

The Al Duhail striker, now the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals in two games, shone as his partnership with Akram Afif down the left destroyed the DPR Korean defence repeatedly while Boualem Khoukhi and Abdelkarim Hassan also put their names on the scoresheet.

Victory means Sanchez’s side have secured themselves a top two finish in the group and their win also ensures Saudi Arabia will progress to the last 16. The teams face off on Thursday to determine who will top the group, with Qatar’s huge win meaning a draw in Abu Dhabi will be enough to take pole position.

After securing wins against DPR Korea and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia top Group E with six points and the knockout round is in sight, having failed to make it past the group stage in the past two editions. 

Juan Antonio Pizzi's team defeated DPR Korea 4-0 on Matchday One and followed that up with a 2-0 triumph over Lebanon on Saturday.

Fahad Almuwallad opened the scoring at the Al Maktoum Stadium in the 12th minute to give Saudi Arabia an early lead, before Hussain Almoqahwi sealed their convincing victory with his 67th minute sliding effort, courtesy of Bahbri’s pinpoint delivery into the box.

Azmoun scored twice against Vietnam on Saturday to take his tournament tally to three and move to the top of the tournament’s goalscoring chart.

However, after helping secure Team Melli’s passage through to the Round of 16, the Rubin Kazan forward insists he has no interest in personal accolades as he seeks to help Iran secure their first Continental title since 1976.

Saturday’s 2-0 win over Vietnam, along with Iraq’s later defeat of Yemen, saw Iran – who have now won their opening two games at the AFC Asian Cup for the third tournament in a row – assure themselves of a place in the knockout phase.

While Wednesday’s fixture will undoubtedly rekindle memories of Iraq’s sensational quarter-final victory over the Iranians at the AFC Asian Cup’s last edition, it will also determine who finishes top of Group D, a fact not lost on Queiroz.

Iraq were made to sweat a little against Yemen in the opening minutes of the game but took control shortly before taking a comfortable 2-0 lead at half-time.

Although Katanec’s men found it hard to break down their opponents in the second half, the third goal eventually arrived late in the game and the Slovenian was pleased with his team’s performance.