Qatar: Qatar will kick off its campaign in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup when it faces the UAE on Wednesday in a Group B match at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Group B also includes Japan and Syria.
According to Qatar News Agency, Saudi Arabia is hosting the seventh edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, which kicks off today and will continue until January 24, with the participation of 16 teams, 15 of which qualified through the qualifiers held in September. The tournament features all five previous champions: Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan, who, along with Australia and Jordan, are the only seven teams to have participated in all the finals.
Qatar is preparing to make its sixth appearance in the tournament and aspires to surpass its previous third-place achievement in the 2018 edition of the tournament, hosted by China. Following tomorrow's match against the UAE, Qatar will meet Syria on January 10 at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium, before facing Japan on January 13 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
Qatar secured its sixth appearance in the tournament after topping Group H with 9 points from 3 victories, against Brunei (13-0), India (2-1), and Bahrain (2-1). The U-23 Qatar football team has appeared in 5 previous editions of the tournament, during which it played 22 matches, winning 11 of them, drawing 7, and losing 4.