By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
February 1 – Qatar is appearing for the first time in the AFC Asian Cup finals and will take on the 4-time Asian Cup champions Japan.
Japan play in their 5th continental final having claimed the title in each of their four finals against Saudi Arabia in 1992 and 2000, China in 2004 and Australia in 2011. Japan scored 6 goals in the four finals.
But the promising Qatar national team are unexpected prey for the mighty and veteran Japan. The head-to-head results of the two sides, however, are balanced.
The final will be just the 5th encounter between the two Asian football teams in the Asian Cup. In the previous four matches, Qatar won 3-0 in 1988, then both sides were drawn twice 1-1 in 2000 and 2007, all the last three matches were in group stage. Their first knock-out encounter saw Japan win 3-2 in the 2011 Quarter Final in Doha.
The all-time head-to-head stats between Qatar and Japan are also level. They have met 8 times in total, Qatar have won twice, Japan twice and drawn 4 times. Both sides scored and conceded 10 goals in the 8 encounters, according to #mundial11.
Qatar in the Final
1 Appearances
0 Progressed
0 Knocked-out
0 goals in the final
Japan in the Final
5 Appearances
4 Progressed
0 Knocked-out
4 Titles
6 goals in the final
Qatar Vs Japan all-time Head-to-Head
| Qatar | Japan | |
| 8 | Games | 8 |
| 2 | Win | 2 |
| 4 | Draw | 4 |
| 1 | Clean sheet | 2 |
| 10 | Goals | 10 |
Qatar Vs Japan all-time Head-to-Head Matches
25/02/1983 Qatar 1-0 Japan International Friendly
12/12/1988 Japan 0-3 Qatar AFC Asian Cup 1988
05/10/1994 Japan 1-1 Qatar Asian Games
20/10/2000 Japan 1-1 Qatar AFC Asian Cup 2000
09/07/2007 Japan 1-1 Qatar AFC Asian Cup 2007
19/11/2008 Qatar 0-3 Japan FIFA World Cup qualifier
10/06/2009 Japan 1-1 Qatar FIFA World Cup qualifier
21/01/2011 Japan 3-2 Qatar AFC Asian Cup 2011
