Unlike the first semi-final match, Iran and hosts Qatar put on quite a spectacle for football fans in the second semi-final. Iran opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a Sardar Azmoun kick.
Qatar’s defensive plan quickly collapsed and the match became exciting early on. After conceding, they pushed and equalized in the 17th minute thanks to a lucky goal from Jassem Gaber, whose shot deflected off an Iranian player before going in.
After the equalizer, Qatar kept the pressure on Iran. Their hard work paid off in the 43rd minute when Akram Afif cut inside the box, past a few Iranian players and curled it into the far corner. Afif was the hero for Qatar in this match as he scored the first goal and scored a beautiful goal to give his team the lead.
The second half saw Iran equalize early thanks to Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s successful penalty in the 51st minute. From this point on, the game continued to get hotter with numerous minor fouls as well as goal attempts from both sides. Iran had a few relevant chances but couldn’t convert and they paid the price as in the 82nd minute, Almoez Ali received the ball in a comfortable position and headed past goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to give again the advantage in Qatar.
Second time injury time was 13 minutes, but Iran played most of them with 10 men after Shojae Khalilzadeh received a yellow card for a foul on Afif and denied him a chance obvious to score. With nothing to lose, Iran continued to advance and were on the verge of a miracle when Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s shot hit the post. However, it is almost nothing and Qatar advances for the second time in a row to the final, where they will face the surprise of this tournament, Jordan.
Asian Cup semi-final: Qatar 3-2 Iran
