The 21-year-old’s brace took his tally for the tournament to three, and with a last eight tussle against the yet to be confirmed runners-up of Group B to come at Changzhou’s Olympic Sports Center on Friday, Ali is in no mood to stop hitting the back of the net just yet.

“Of course, I feel very happy that we have qualified for the next round and I want to say congratulations to my teammates,” declared the Al Duhail forward who added to his Matchday One strike in a 1-0 victory over Uzbekistan as host nation China were eliminated.

“I am also very happy that I scored the goals.

“I now hope I can continue scoring and (in the process) help my team carry on winning.”

The livewire striker struck in both halves following Yao Junsheng’s early effort, to send his team through to the last eight alongside second-placed Uzbekistan, while the host nation, who had captain He Chao sent off, were eliminated from the competition.

In a frenetic start to proceedings, China were ahead after only four minutes. Deng Hangwen did well to outmuscle defender Sultan Al Brake deep inside the Qatar penalty area, before finding Yao who gleefully lashed the ball home from close range.

Qatar’s response was swift however, as Almoez Ali forced a fine sixth minute save out of China goalkeeper Zhou Yuchen, only for Wei Shihao to then flash a header narrowly over the Qatari bar following Yao’s delightful free-kick shortly after.

With Qatar slowly beginning to gain a degree of control, disaster was to strike China on 41 minutes when captain He was handed a second yellow card by referee Alireza Faghani following a foul on talismanic midfielder Akram Afif.

From the resulting free-kick, Bassam Al Rawi rattled the crossbar with a stinging effort, before parity was restored in the dying embers of a fascinating first period courtesy of Almoez Ali’s deft header from a sublime Afif cross.

With one round of matches still to play, the victory lifts Qatar to top spot in Group A on six points, three ahead of both host nation China PR and Uzbekistan, while Oman are fourth and still searching for their first points of the tournament. Uzbekistan beat China 1-0 in the day's earlier match.

In a first half of few genuine chances, Qatar threatened first when Afif curled an early shot wide, before Oman midfielder Jameel Al Yahmadi released Muhsen Al Ghassani who could only screw his 22nd minute shot wide of Ibrahim Al Mukhaini’s right hand post when through on goal.

Al Mukhaini was then forced into action some 10 minutes later, the custodian reacting well to tip a firm Bassam Al Rawi header over the bar following Ahmad Moein’s pinpoint free-kick.

The Al Duhail forward’s goal leaves Qatar second in Group A behind table-topping China PR who beat Oman 3-0 in the day’s earlier game.

In a closely fought first half, it was Uzbekistan who dominated the early proceedings, Zabikhillo Urinboev firing inches over following a neat interchange of passes with Dostonbek Khamdamov on the edge of the area after 14 minutes.

Qatar responded well however, with dynamic captain Ahmad Moein, a member of the squad when his country finished fourth at the tournament’s last edition in 2016, fizzing a shot narrowly wide shortly after the half hour mark.

With Qatar clearly growing in confidence, midfielder Salem Al Hajri then rattled the Uzbekistan bar courtesy of a rasping drive from distance as the opening period came to an entertaining close.