As the curtain draws down on the group stage of the Asian Football Cup currently being held in Qatar, 14 teams are among the qualified to the round of 16, while others left empty-handed.

Three teams succeeded in reaching the final 16 by achieving the full score: Qatar topped the first group, Iraq in the second group, and Iran in the third group.

Syria and Palestine secured their qualification to the round of 16 for the first time in their history after each of them gained 4 points, joining the rest of the qualified Arab teams, which are:

• Saudi Arabia
• Jordan
• Iraq
• The UAE

Waiting for what will be explained by the results of the fifth and Sixth groups, where Bahrain and Oman are located, respectively.

The teams that have qualified for the round of 16 in the Asian Cup so far:

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇦🇺 Australia
🇮🇶 Iraq
🇮🇷 Iran
🇹🇯 Tajikistan
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
🇸🇾 Syria
🇵🇸 Palestine
🇦🇪 Emirates
🇯🇴 Jordan
🇯🇵 Japan
🇹🇭 Thailand
🇰🇷 South Korea pic.twitter.com/1Feo9xJxVm

– Football Observatory (@marsadfootball) January 24, 2024

The teams that qualify directly for the round of 16

The first group: Qatar (9 points), Tajikistan (4 points)

the second group: Australia (7 points), Uzbekistan (5 points), Syria (4 points).

Third group: Iran (9 points), UAE (4 points), Palestine (4 points).

Fourth group: Iraq (9 points), Japan (6 points).

Fifth group: Jordan (4 points), South Korea (4 points).

Sixth group: Saudi Arabia (6 points), and Thailand (4 points).

The third-placed teams

Syria and Palestine ensured their passage to the final 16 as the best fourth-place finishers, and two teams remain to be determined on Thursday at the end of the matches of the fifth and sixth groups.

Expected semi-final matches:

Sunday 28 January

• Australia x third in the third or fourth group
• Tajikistan x UAE

Monday 29 January

• Iraq x third in the fifth or sixth group
• Qatar x third group, fifth or third

Tuesday 30 January

• Uzbekistan x second group six
• The first of the sixth group x the second of the fifth group

Wednesday 31 January

• First group five x Japan
• Iran x Syria