Several sides will be looking to book an early ticket to the Round of 16 while others aim to ensure they head into the final set of group stage matches with their qualification hopes still alive.

With 12 games to be played across Qatar in the days ahead, the-AFC.com has selected five things to look out for.

Qatar and Japan look to continue impressive runs

Hosts Qatar’s 3-0 opening-day win over Lebanon meant the Maroons have now won eight successive matches at the AFC Asian Cup after winning seven on the bounce en route to the title in 2019. On Wednesday, the defending champions take on Tajikistan in a game they will be strong favourites to make it nine in a row.

Japan, who lost to Qatar in the 2019 final, opened with a hard-fought and entertaining 4-2 win over Vietnam. That result took the Samurai Blue to an incredible 11 victories in a row, including big wins over Germany and Turkey, while they have netted a whopping 49 goals in that run. On Friday, they face what is likely to be a stern test against Iraq. Marquez Lopez’s Qatar and Hajime Moriyasu’s Japan boast two fine – and different – winning streaks. It will be fascinating to see how much further they can stretch, and whose will be the first to be ended.

Ligue 1 stars face off in Doha

Two lovely goals in a 3-1 win over Bahrain saw Korea Republic’s Lee Kang-in deliver one of the finest performances on Matchday One as the Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder continued his strong start to 2024 which has also included a goal against Toulouse in the Trophee des Champions as he picked up the first of what he hopes to be two titles in the early stages of the year.

Also on Matchday One, another Ligue 1 player, Mousa Al Tamari, bagged a brace, including a sumptuous second, and played a big role in another goal as Jordan eased past Malaysia 4-0. Having sealed a move from OH Leuven in Belgium to Montpellier in mid-2023, the 26-year-old’s star continues to grow as a regular in one of Europe’s strongest leagues.
On Saturday, Korea face Jordan with both sides knowing a win will secure a place in the knockout rounds. There’s little doubt Jurgen Klinsmann’s side, with their wealth of attacking talent that includes Lee, Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan, will be favourites. However, Jordan hold an ace up their sleeve who they will hope can help them spring a surprise.

Can Oman bounce back against Thailand?
Oman were perhaps the most unlucky team on Matchday One, having led one of the tournament favourites, Saudi Arabia, for more than an hour before ultimately succumbing to a 2-1 defeat following Ali Al Bulayhi’s 96th-minute winner at Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday.

Helmed by the experienced Croatian tactician Branko Ivankovic, Oman were well-organised, defended resolutely, saw goalkeeper Ibrahim Al Mukhaini make some fine saves and countered effectively. However, despite a performance that will have pleased their head coach, they ended the game with nothing and now need a result against Thailand on Sunday.

Having beaten Kyrgyz Republic 2-0 in their opener, a second successive win for Thailand would leave Oman with a mountain to climb to reach the knockout rounds. But if Ivankovic’s men can bounce back by picking up all three points at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, they would put themselves in a strong position ahead of a final group match against Kyrgyz Republic.

China PR aim for ‘sharper’ performance
Had Xie Pengfei found the back of the net with a clear-cut chance with five minutes remaining against Tajikistan on Matchday One, China PR would have picked up an opening-game win for the fifth AFC Asian Cup in succession. Instead, the unmarked substitute headed over the bar as the game ended goalless.

However, it was the Tajik debutants who had the better of the chances, and the Chinese will now look to put in a stronger showing on Matchday Two against Lebanon on Wednesday. Perhaps key will be creating chances for star man Wu Lei, who was largely on the periphery against Tajikistan with no shots on goal and just 13 touches, only two of which were in the opposition penalty area.

In the build-up to the match against Lebanon, Wu admitted China need a “sharper performance” as he looks to add to the two goals he scored in the 2019 edition. Victory would take the East Asians to four points and sitting pretty for qualification, anything else would leave them in a sticky situation ahead of their Matchday Three encounter against hosts and defending champions Qatar.

A key Southeast Asian derby

Every two years, the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Cup sees Southeast Asian nations battle for regional supremacy. In early 2023, two-time winners Vietnam defeated six-time runners-up Indonesia in the semi-finals as they maintained their recent dominance over the Garuda that also included back-to-back wins in the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the current AFC Asian Cup.

While Southeast Asian sides are incredibly familiar with each other, meetings at the AFC Asian Cup are so rare that the last – and only – time it happened was back in 1972. However, having been drawn together in Group D, Vietnam and Indonesia are set to go head-to-head at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha on Friday.
Philippe Troussier’s Vietnam impressed in their 4-2 opening-day defeat to Japan, while Shin Tae-yong’s Indonesia will have also taken the positives from a 3-1 loss to Iraq. However, a second successive defeat for either would make knockout round qualification extremely unlikely, meaning there is much more than just bragging rights on the line in this crunch Southeast Asian derby.