The 2024 Qatar Asian Cup has reached the knockout stage, and the deepest impression on fans of this competition is that there seems to be no real underdog in the entire Asian football world. Those past fish belly teams have risen, and the teams that the national football team can defeat in Asia have become fewer and fewer!
The matchup between Indonesia and Australia was the biggest difference in strength in the entire knockout stage, but the scene of the game was not as disparity as everyone imagined. Even for a long time in the game, the ball was controlled by the Indonesian team, and their passing and cutting also left a deep impression on the fans. However, the gap in hard power still allowed the Indonesian team to suffer a 0-4 defeat, and their Asian Cup journey came to an end. But for Indonesia, the world's No. 146 "fish belly team", it is already a great success to reach the knockout round, at least the Chinese men's football team has not been able to do so.
The Tajikistan team, which played next, broke out the biggest upset in the knockout round of the Asian Cup. The newcomers, who are participating in the Asian Cup for the first time, beat China in the group stage to qualify, and then faced the stronger UAE team, and they did not have any stage fright. If it weren't for Tajikistan's attacking core, Jalilov's poor shooting skills and missed chances one after another, they might have given the UAE a big defeat. In the end, through a brutal penalty shootout, the Tajikistan team defeated the UAE team with an aggregate score of 6-4, and the team participated in the first game in history, and it was incredible to reach the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup!
The strong dialogue between the Iraqi team and the Jordan team is the closest match in the Asian Cup 1 8 finals. The Iraqi team won all three games in the group stage, beating the Japanese team to break through to the top of the group, and many Iraqi fans are imagining that this team can repeat the miracle of 2007 and make Iraqi football stand on the top of Asia again. Unfortunately, a controversial red card from Iranian referee Faghani ruined their hopes. Iraq, who played one man less, suffered a crash in stoppage time, and were reversed by Jordan with two goals in a row, losing 2-3 to their opponents, unfortunately stopping in the round of 16, becoming the first team to qualify as group winners, but were eliminated.
The host Qatar team, which played next, was also in trouble for a while. Because the qualification process for the group stage was too smooth, the Qatari team did not get into too much shape as soon as the knockout stage came up, and the Palestinian team found opportunities through the pressing of the front court and successfully broke the deadlock and took the lead in the score. At this time, the Qataris woke up like a dream, and took advantage of a corner kick attack opportunity and a penalty awarded by Chinese referee Ma Ning, they still had a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over the Palestinian team, avoiding the embarrassment of going out of the first round of the knockout round.
For a Chinese fan, the biggest feeling of this Asian Cup for everyone may be only two words, that is, "despair". Judging from the performance of the Chinese men's football team in the group stage, it is difficult for us to have a chance of winning against the UAE, Iraq and Palestine, even against the weaker Indonesian team, we dare not say that we can win the opponent. Not to mention Australia, Tajikistan, Jordan and Qatar, who have already qualified for the quarter-finals.
The next most important task for the Chinese team is to impact the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. But after watching this Asian Cup, fans may be able to dispel the idea of returning to the World Cup in advance, at least in the next 5 to 10 years, the Chinese men's football team wants to break out of Asia, it is still an unattainable dream!