Complete the fairy tale

The 2023 Asian Cup final will be a clash between Jordan and Qatar. The tournament's "dark horse" team will face the defending champion, who is also the host. This is the first time in Asian Cup history that the final will be without any of the "big guys" including Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Australia.

Jordan vs Qatar Prediction

Jordan has been the biggest surprise of the 2023 Asian Cup. Before 2024, the West Asian team had never won a knockout match at the Asian Cup. This time, they defeated Iraq, Tajikistan and South Korea to reach the final of the Asian tournament for the first time in history.

Jordan team caused a surprise at Asian Cup 2023.

The image of the Jordan team at the 2023 Asian Cup is reminiscent of Morocco at the 2022 World Cup. Coach Hussein Ammouta's team defeated South Korea in a match where they only had 30% possession, but no one could say that Jordan was inferior to their powerful opponent. It was the 87th-ranked team in the world that played better, created more chances and deservedly won the right to reach the final.

The fairy tale of the Jordan team at the 2023 Asian Cup is only missing a happy ending in the final match. After what they have shown on the journey since the beginning of the tournament, coach Ammouta and his team have the right to confidently aim for the championship.

Jordan's opponent in the final was Qatar. Although the host team is the defending champion, their appearance in the cup for the second consecutive time was a surprise. After a series of difficult matches and unconvincing victories, Qatar defeated the doubters by overcoming the most difficult "obstacle" - Iran - in the semi-finals.

The inspiration behind Qatar's play was Akram Afif. The striker was the main man with a total of five goals. However, in the final, Qatar needed more than individual brilliance to keep the trophy on home soil.

Qatar has a chance to defend the championship.

Jordan vs Qatar form

Jordan won just one match in the group stage (beating Malaysia 4-0) before drawing with South Korea and losing to Bahrain. Before that, they had a run of 9 consecutive matches with only 1 win. Interestingly, Jordan's only victory in the 6 months before the 2023 Asian Cup took place was a friendly against Qatar.

That was also Qatar's only defeat in the last 10 consecutive matches (the rest were 6 wins).

Expected lineup Jordan vs Qatar

Jordan squad prediction: Yazeed Abu Laila, Abdallah Nasib, Yazan Al-Arab, Bara' Marie, Ehsan Haddad, Nizar Al-Rashdan, Noor Al-Rawabdeh, Mohammad Abu Hashish, Mousa Al-Tamari, Mahmoud Al-Mardi, Salem Yazan Al-Naimat.t

Qatar squad prediction: Meshaal Barsham, Pedro Miguel, Mohammed Waad, Lucas Mendes, Almoez Ali, Tarek Salman, Jassem Gaber, Hassan Al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Ali Asad, Ahmed Fathi.

Score prediction: Jordan 1-0 Qatar

Minh Anh

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