In their first-ever round of 16 Asian Cup fixture, Palestine will face the hosts Qatar on Monday at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

The reigning champions won all three of their group fixtures, including a 1-0 triumph versus China on matchday three, while the Palestinians came away with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong to claim one of the four best third-place spots.

Match preview

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For a second successive time, Qatar finished the group phase of this competition with a 100% record and once again did not concede a single goal along the way.

The Maroons have only conceded one goal in their last 10 Asian Cup fixtures, counting the group and knockout stages, and have never been behind in any of those encounters.

Aside from a 2-1 defeat versus Jordan to begin 2024, this team have been virtually unbeatable when going in front, with that aforementioned loss being the only time since the end of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup that they lost a game after scoring first.

Only two of their 10 goals conceded since September have come in the opening half, while they have not trailed at the interval since losing their Gold Cup quarter-final to Panama (3-0) last summer.

Since being appointed manager in December, Tintin Marquez has won four of his five matches in charge, with that lone defeat versus Jordan being the only time he has seen his side concede.

Qatar are unbeaten in their last six competitive matches versus the Palestinians, while the Maroons did not concede a goal in each of their previous four meetings against them.

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When they needed it most, Palestine came up big in their final group fixture, earning their first-ever victory at this tournament, with that three-goal triumph being the biggest win for this side since June 2022 (4-0 win over the Philippines).

Monday will be the first appearance for the Palestinians in the knockout stage of any tournament since winning the 2020 Bangabandhu Cup.

In the Asian Cup group stage, Makram Daboub's men scored two more goals (five) than they had managed in nine previous matches combined ahead of this tournament.

Palestine managed to score in every match in the stage group stage for the first time after failing to find the back of the net once four years ago.

The Lions of Canaan have been relatively sharp defensively of late, conceding a goal or fewer in six of their last seven matches in all competitions.

Their only victory over Qatar in 10 prior encounters occurred in 2002 (2-0), though eight of their all-time meetings against them were decided by a goal or fewer.

Team News

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All three Qatar goalkeepers saw game action on matchday three, with Saad Al-Sheeb getting the start before Salah Zakaria replaced him at the interval, though he got hurt just beyond the hour mark, forcing Meshaal Barsham to come in and finish the game.

Al-Sheeb was one of the nine newcomers to the starting 11 for that encounter, with Bassam Al-Rawi and Mostafa Meshaal being the only two players who maintained their place in the opening lineup.

Captain Hassan Al-Haydos came on for Meshaal in the second half, scoring within a couple of minutes after entering the match, his first of the 2023 Asian Cup.

There were two changes made to the Palestinian starting 11 in their historic victory over Hong Kong, with Mohammed Khalil and Amid Mahajna replacing Camilo Saldana and Mohammed Rashid.

Islam Batran made his first appearance of the competition on matchday three, coming on for Tamer Seyam in the latter stages of the second half.

Oday Dabbagh notched a brace on Tuesday, with Zaid Qunbar scoring his first for the national team and Rami Hamadeh only had to make one stop to collect a clean sheet.

Qatar possible starting lineup:
Barsham; Al-Rawi, Salman, Mendes, Ahmed; Assadalla, Fatehi, Gaber; Mohammad, Ali, Afif

Palestine possible starting lineup:
Hamadeh; Al-Battat, Termanini, Saleh, Saldana; Mahajna, Jaber, Kharoub, Abu Warda; Z. Qunbar, Dabbagh

We say: Qatar 1-0 Palestine

Qatar looked compact and comfortable at the back throughout the group stage, and we believe they will squeak past a highly motivated Palestinian side who give up their share of scoring opportunities.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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