QATAR, December 10, 2021 - 2021 FIFA Arab Cup reaches its climax after the end of the group stage, while the competition goes on with the quarter-finals stage. Starting from today, teams will compete against each other in order to ensure a spot in the semifinals, getting one more step closer to lifting the trophy. The tournament, established in 1963, reaches its 10th edition, providing for FIFA a test bench for next years' World Cup also by testing the use of a semi-automatic offside system.
Here’s a guide for the quarter-finals games that are occurring today: Tunisia-Oman and Qatar-United Arab Emirates.
TUNISIA - OMAN
Tunisia ensured first place in Group B by winning two matches in the group stage out of three (5-1 win at its debut in the competition against Mauritania and 1-0 win against the United Arab Emirates) and by overcoming UAE - which collected the same amount of points - in goal difference (3-1). Seifeddine Jaziri is the tournament’s top scorer so far in the competition, thanks to the three goals marked in Tunisia’s wins in the group stage, one clear of team-mate Firas Ben Larbi, Algeria’s Baghdad Bounedjah, Qatar’s Akram Afif, Oman’s Khalid Al-Hajri, Jordan’s Yazan Al-Naimat and Morocco duo Badr Benoun and Abdelilah Hafidi.
By collecting 4 points in its group stage journey Oman conquered second place in Group A, two points ahead of Iraq. The 3-0 win on Day 3 against Bahrain and the draw with Iraq at its debut ensured a spot in the quarter-finals stage for Oman. Even in the loss against Group A leader, Qatar, Oman found the net in each of their FIFA Arab Cup fixtures this far, which is no surprise since, in their last 13 matches, the Reds have only failed to score twice.
The match between Tunisia and Oman is the first scheduled in the quarter-final stage, starting from 3:00 local time at Education City Stadium, in Doha, Qatar.
QATAR - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Qatar - as well as Morocco - was the only team to emerge from the group stage with a 100 per cent winning record. In fact, both teams won all three of their matches: by doing so they reinforced, game after game, their status among the tournament favourites. By winning 1-0 in its debut with Bahrain, 2-1 against Oman on Day 2 and 3-0 against Iraq on Day 3 Qatar collected 9 points, especially by scoring late in its games: four out of six goals that Qatar scored so far in the competition came after the 80th minute (82, 84, 90+3, 90+8).
The three goals scored against Syria (2) and Mauritania (1) ensured for UAE second place in Group B, with the same amount of points as Tunisia: goal difference, as mentioned before, made the difference for the two teams (3-1). Tunisia itself was the only team capable of stopping the United Arab Emirates’ race in the group stage, being the only loss for UAE, after winning on Day 1 against Syria (2-1) and on Day 2 against Mauritania (1-0). Possession is the keyword when you think about UAE’s game style: in fact, they dominated ball possession more than any other team in the group stage, enjoying an average of 64 per cent – peaking at 70 per cent in their 1-0 victory over Mauritania.
The match between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is the second scheduled in the quarter-final stage, starting from 7:00 pm local time at Al Bayt Stadium, in Al Khor, Qatar.
