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Qatar vs Iraq Prediction & Betting tips
Vietnam and China are the first two quarter-finalists at this year’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates. In the normal case, however, the title win at the 17th Asian Championships should be made among the three big favorites Japan, South Korea and defending champion Australia. In the group stage, however, the controversial World Cup host of 2022, Qatar, could play with convincing performances in the role of (co-) favorite. In the second round Qatar will face Iraq!
The Kataris secured first place in Group E and also celebrated a deserved victory against World Cup participant Saudi Arabia. With ten goals scored, Qatar was the go-to machine in the previous competition. Iraq had to settle for second place due to the poorer goal difference with Iran. According to the FIFA World Ranking, a balanced match can be expected in this knockout duel. Qatar is ranked 93, while Iraq is ranked 88th just ahead. The bookmakers see in the game between Qatar and Iraq, according to current quotas, the previously convincing acting host of the World Cup in 2022 at an advantage. The start of the final round of the last sixteen at the Asian Cup will start at 16:00 pm on Tuesday at Al-Nahyan Stadium.
Qatar:
The wine reds will probably never be a crowd pleaser for football fans. The World Cup in 2022 has brought a lot of criticism. The players can not help it. A similar development to handball, as Qatar has “bought” a number of top stars for the home World Cup, fortunately is not possible in football. Players who have already played for another national team may no longer play for another nation.
Nevertheless, Qatar does not want to present itself as a fall for the World Cup in its own country and many years ago it took a lot of money to promote its offspring. In international comparison, however, there is still a gap left. Spanish coach Felix Sanchez has selected only domestic players for the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Well-known names are therefore not to be found, but the services absolutely impressive. Three games, three wins and an impressive goal difference of 10: 0 are recorded. Striker Almoez Ali, who even played in Austria for a few months, is the outstanding player. Seven of the ten goals scored are credited to his account. While the victories against Lebanon and North Korea had not been too big a surprise, the clear victory against hosts Saudi Arabia was an exclamation point.
Only for the second time is Qatar in the knockout phase of the Asian Championships and can deny the game against Iraq with a broad chest. The role as favorite after these impressive achievements is obvious. In the game between Qatar and Iraq, a tip on the three-way market is still risky, because in principle the teams are moving at a similar level. However, there is a lot at stake and accordingly “Safety First” will be the motto.
Iraq:
The “lions”, as the players of Iraq are also called, celebrated in 2007 the biggest success in the history of the association. With a 1-0 win in the final against Saudi Arabia, Iraq secured the title at the Asian Championships. In the last two participations, Iraq also reached the knockout phase. In contrast to Qatar, there are some legionnaires in the Iraq squad. A total of eleven of the 23 cadre players earn their money abroad. Big, sounding names, however, can not be found in Iraq. The most famous player is left-back Ali Adnan, who is in Serie A at Atalanta Bergamo under contract. Iraq got off to a good start ahead of the 17th Asian Championships. Although the World Cup in Russia was missed, there were some respectable successes in the friendly matches. The only defeat in the last twelve international matches was against Argentina (0: 4).
In the group stage, there was a trembling start against Vietnam with a last-minute victory thanks to captain Ali Adnan. After the clear 3: 0 against Yemen, the round of 16 was already fixed. In the end, however, the group victory was missed as Iraq had to settle for a goalless draw against Iran. This game can certainly be described as a barometer for the knockout round against Qatar. Both teams acted with very little risk and wanted to avoid the crucial mistake. Torszenen were therefore also in short supply and overall only six shots were recorded.
Qatar vs Iraq head to head matches
21.03.18 FI Iraq Qatar 2 : 3
26.12.17 GCN Iraq Qatar 2 : 1
08.08.16 FI Qatar Iraq 2 : 1
07.11.12 FI Qatar Iraq 2 : 1
16.12.11 FI Qatar Iraq 0 : 0