The 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts sealed the three points thanks to a brace each from 2019 AFC Player of the Year Akram Afif and 2019 AFC Asian Cup top scorer Almoez Ali, after Abdulaziz Hatem had scored the opener.

Abdulaziz Hatem opened the scoring before Akram Afif and Almoez Ali added two goals each as the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts took all three points in 2020’s first and only Asian Qualifiers fixture.

Asia’s first competitive international match since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the clash was attended by 1,044 socially-distanced fans.

Frustrated to have narrowly missed out on domestic league and cup honours, Kim Do-hoon’s side have been untouchable in Doha, winning all five matches since arriving in the Qatari capital to register a total 16 points from six matches.

Such was their dominance of Group F that an Ulsan outfit featuring just one of the 11 players from their previous outing eased to a 4-1 win over Shanghai Shenhua on Thursday, in a match where the Chinese side were fighting to stay alive in the tournament.

Unbeaten Group E winners with a club record 16 points, Beijing were one of the standout sides in the group stage, but they’ll need to buck a historical trend if they are to go any further in the competition.

The Chinese outfit have reached the knockout stage on three separate occasions - the most recent coming in 2015 - but fell at the first hurdle each time, with all three defeats coming against Korean opposition.

Some of the Continent's finest players have been on show in Qatar with established names and emerging talents displaying their ability in Asia's most prestigious club competition.

With the knockout rounds now leaving no margin for error, the-AFC.com profiles eight stars who have shone in the group stage and will be crucial to their sides' chances of going deeper into the tournament.

While Al Nassr’s seven-goal striker Abderazzaq Hamdallah announced himself as the king of the West earlier in the competition, there are still several candidates from the East who could topple the Moroccan star in the remaining rounds.

Join the-AFC.com as we examine five of the current contenders for most important scoring title in Asian football, all of whom could still be crowned the Golden Boot winner for 2020.

Doha: FC Tokyo's Daiki Niwa has been voted by the fans as the 2020 AFC Champions League (East) Toyota Player of the Week after an impressive performance in his side's 1-0 win over Perth Glory on Matchday Six as they advanced to the knockout rounds.

The veteran defender had an 83 percent duel success rate, made three interceptions and completed 62 passes at an 87 percent accuracy that saw him ranked fifth in Stats Perform's – the Asian Football Confederation's official data provider – list of nominees for the accolade with a 7.6 rating.