Japan v Qatar: Asian Cup final betting preview, tip & live streaming time

Kick-off 3pm Friday

Japan are the most successful team in Asian Cup history and can win the tournament for a fifth time by beating Qatar in the final in Abu Dhabi.

A strong case can be made for Qatar, who have won all of their six matches without conceding a goal.

There has been a big push to improve the Qatari national team and ensure they are competitive when hosting the World Cup in 2022.

But the scale of their achievements in the UAE have come as a surprise.

Going into the tournament they were 93rd in the Fifa rankings but belied that status by posting wins over five higher-ranked teams.

In the group stages their registered 2-0 victories over Lebanon (ranked 81st) and Saudi Arabia (69).

And they raised to bar even higher in the knockouts, recording 1-0 wins over Iraq (88) and South Korea (53) before sweeping aside hosts UAE (79) 4-0 in Tuesday's semi-final.

Qatar striker Almoez Ali tops the tournament scoring charts with eight goals – four more than his closest challengers – and head coach Felix Sanchez has a welcome selection dilemma with midfielder Abdulaziz Hatem and defender Bassam Al-Rawi available after suspensions.

However, Qatar are faced with their biggest test in the final and may come up just short against a Japan side with a huge advantage in terms of big-match experience.

It was only last summer that the Blue Samurai reached the World Cup last 16, losing 3-2 to Belgium, and they have grown into the Asian Cup.

Hajime Moriyasu's side faced Iran, the tournament's top-ranked team, in the semi-finals and won 3-0. If they play as well in the final they should be too strong for Qatar.

Recommendation
Japan
1pt 6-5 BoyleSports, Ladbrokes

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