2019 AFC Asian Cup Group E

In the 28th minute, Hattan Bahebri dribbled past Ri Il-jin and sent a curler from the left to give Saudi Arabia the lead.

Moments later, Saudi Arabia had a missed opportunity, when Fahad Al-Muwallad side-stepped defender Kim Chol-bom and goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk but his shot flew wide.

In the 87th minute, defender Kim Song-gi failed to clear Hamdan Al-Shamrani’s cross into the box and Al-Muwallad slammed the ball into the back of the net to seal Saudi Arabia’s first opening AFC Asian Cup match win since they emerged champions in 1996.

Hassan's driving run created space for Akram Afif and, when the winger received the ball, his centre found Abdulaziz Hatem, whose shot was saved by Khalil.

Man of the Match: Hattan Bahebri (Saudi Arabia) Assistant referees:[7] Abu Bakar Al-Amri (Oman) Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman) Fourth official: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan) Additional assistant referees: Mohanad Qassim (Iraq) Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia) Qatar were in front in the ninth minute when Akram Afif glided past Sim Hyon-jin before delivering a low cross to Almoez Ali, who struck past Ri Myong-guk.

With just two minutes remaining in the first half, Afif lifted the ball high over the advancing Myong-guk and Boualem Khoukhi headed in from close range.

Five minutes later, Afif led a counter-attack before rolling the ball through to Ali, who smashed his shot across Myong-guk and inside the far post.

Ali turned provider in the 68th minute when his pass allowed Hassan to storm through the North Korean defence and slot home Qatar’s sixth.

Housain Al-Mogahwi shot over the bar for Saudi Arabia following Yahya Al-Shehri's probing run and cross, before Fahad Al-Muwallad struck an upright with Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb beaten.

However, Lebanon levelled the score just before the half hour mark when Hassan Maatouk dribbled down the left before laying off for Felix Michel Melki, who smashed the ball into the back of the net.

[15] This loss extended North Korea's winless streak, with their last win dating back to their fourth place finish in the 1980 edition.

[16] Man of the Match: Felix Michel Melki (Lebanon) Assistant referees:[14] Matthew Cream (Australia) Anton Shchetinin (Australia) Fourth official: Ronnie Koh Min Kiat (Singapore) Additional assistant referees: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore) Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong) Fair play points were used as tiebreakers if the head-to-head and overall records of teams were tied (and if a penalty shoot-out was not applicable as a tiebreaker).