Iraq stun Japan to seal Asian Cup knockout spot

Story By: BBC

Iraq stunned Asian Cup favourites Japan to reach the knockout stages thanks to Aymen Hussein’s first-half double.

Hussein headed the Lions of Mesopotamia into an early lead in Qatar’s Education City Stadium after Japan keeper Zion Suzuki failed to deal with a cross.

And he doubled their lead just before half-time with another header, this time from Ahmed Al-Hajjaj’s cross.

Japan’s goal came in injury time at the end of the game, Liverpool’s Wataru Endo heading in.

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This was the first time the Samurai Blue, ranked 17th in the world, had lost to Iraq, ranked 63rd, in 42 years – a run of nine games.

Hajime Moriyasu’s side, who beat Vietnam 4-2 in the opening game, could need a result in their final game against Indonesia to reach the knockout stages.

Iraq, who beat Indonesia last time out, can afford to rest players against Vietnam.

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The top two automatically qualify, with the four best third-placed teams also progressing to the last 16.

Hosts Qatar and Australia were the first two teams to seal their places in the knockout stages.

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