Almoez Ali scored twice to take his tally for the tournament to an impressive seven, as the Qataris recorded a third successive victory, a run of form that has yet to see them concede.

However, despite the flying start, Sanchez is adamant that Qatar’s impressive record will count for nothing come the knockout phase.

The prolific 22-year-old struck either side of the break to take his tournament tally to seven on a night when Qatar registered a third successive group stage victory to head into the Round of 16 with momentum galore and leave their opponents occupying second place.

Qatar, quarter-finalists in 2000 and 2011, are now scheduled to meet Iraq in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, while three-time champions Saudi Arabia will face Japan in Sharjah a day earlier.

Lebanon lost out to Vietnam on the fairplay rule after both teams finished with identical points and goal difference.

Lebanon needed to win by four clear goals to advance but despite a valiant effort, they fell just short.

Lebanon had the first look at goal from a free-kick in the sixth minute but Hassan Maatouk saw his effort blocked by a sea of defenders.

The line-up was confirmed on Thursday, when Oman and Vietnam claimed the Round of 16's two remaining places, setting the scene for what promises to be an unforgettable climax to the largest ever edition of the competition.

In the 36 matches played in the group stages of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, we have seen 96 goals scored - 2.67 per match - and some of them truly memorable strikes. Here are our selected 10 for you to review and judge which is your best.

Eldor Shomurodov gave the Uzbeks the lead five minutes before half time but a 43rd minute header from Yoshinori Muto and a long-range drive by Tsukasa Shiotani in the second half earned Moriyasu’s side all three points despite the coach making wholesale changes to his starting line-up.

“I think how we kept doing what we needed to do was one key reason we won,” said the former Sanfrecce Hiroshima coach. “If the players stopped doing something or if their heads went down after the first goal we couldn’t have scored our first goal.

“But their heads didn’t go down, they were very positive. That’s why we were able to equalise and that led to our performance in the second half.”

Oman defeated Turkmenistan 3-1 on Thursday, with Muhsen Al Ghassani and Mohammed Al Musallami scoring late goals after the Central Asian side had equalised through Altymyrat Annadurdyyev following Ahmed Al Mahaijri's opener in the 20th minute.

The three points meant Oman squeezed into the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed finishers, having fallen 2-1 and 1-0 to Uzbekistan and Japan respectively in their earlier Group F matches.

That, said, Verbeek, is the main reason why Oman deserve their spot in the Round of 16, their first in four appearances in the Finals.