Palestine wins 3-0 over Hong Kong ‘First ever win + advance to round of 16’

Palestinian players performing a goal celebration

Palestine captured two birds with one stone: its first victory in the history of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup and advancing to the round of 16.

Palestine won 3-0 in the final match of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group C match against Hong Kong held at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 24th (Korean time).

This is the first time that Palestine has won the Asian Cup.

Palestine, who previously participated in the 2015 tournament (3 losses) and the 2019 tournament (2 draws, 1 loss) but failed to taste victory, achieved its first historic victory in its third appearance and advanced to the group stage with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss (4 points). Finished the league.

Palestine recorded 4 points (goal difference 0), and had the same points as the United Arab Emirates (UAE, 4 points, goal difference +1), which lost 1-2 to Iran (9 points) on this day, but was pushed out in goal difference and finished 3rd in the group. .

However, among the top four teams in six groups, they advanced to the round of 16.

The lowest points for the 3rd place team to advance to the round of 16 in this competition is 3.

This is also the first time that Palestine has advanced to the round of 16 in the Asian Cup.

On the other hand, Hong Kong suffered 3 losses and was eliminated from the group stage in 4th place.

Palestine, who won the game with a header by Odai Daba in the 12th minute of the first half, expanded the lead with an additional goal from Jade Kunbar five minutes into the second half.

Then, in the 15th minute of the second half, Tamer Seyam's mid-range shot hit the crossbar, and Daba pushed it back in front of the goal, scoring a key goal along with his own multiple goals, ending the 3-0 win.

Iranian players celebrate after scoring a goal

Meanwhile, the UAE, led by coach Paulo Bento, who coached the Korean national soccer team, lost 1-2 due to a missed penalty kick in the match against Iran held at the Education City Stadium in Doha that day.

Iran, with three consecutive wins (9 points), advanced to the round of 16 as first place in the group, while the UAE beat Palestine in goal difference and secured a ticket to the round of 16 as second place in the group.

Coach Bento, who was sent off in the second group match against Palestine for strongly protesting against a decision, began to ‘remotely conduct’ from the stands that day.

At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, coach Bento was ordered to leave the team during the second group match against Ghana and watched the third group match against Portugal from the stands, which he recreated on this day.

The UAE gave up the first goal to Iran's Mehdi Taremi in the 26th minute of the first half, ending the first half down 0-1.

UAE, who launched a counterattack, took the opportunity to tie the game when Yahya Al-Ghasani induced a penalty kick in the 14th minute of the second half.

However, Alghashani's right-footed shot as a kicker was blocked by the goalkeeper and he failed to score.

UAE's defeat deepened as they conceded a second goal to Iran's Taremi in the 20th minute of the second half, and although Al Ghasani scored a chasing goal in extra time in the second half, there was not enough time to turn the game around. 토토사이트