With a hat-trick of penalties from Akram Afif, Qatar defeated Jordan 3-1 on Saturday to win the Asian Cup.
It was a suitable way to round off a month of football that saw several exciting games and started with 24 teams. Additionally, it will aid in erasing memories of Qatar's disastrous World Cup performance, in which they lost all three games—the worst record of any host in the competition's history.
Playing in front of 86,492 spectators at Lusail Stadium, which staged the World Cup final 14 months ago, Jordan were in their first Asian Cup final and contesting the biggest game in their history.
Qatar fully deserved their half-time lead but Jordan roared back to equalise through Yazan Al-Naimat's brilliant finish.