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The grandest ever edition of Asia’s national team flagship got underway in spectacular fashion on Friday evening with a record number of spectators contributing to the electric atmosphere during the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 between Qatar and Lebanon.
A total of 82,490 fans thronged the iconic Lusail Stadium to witness Qatar get off to a winning start in the 18th edition of Asia’s crown jewel, which eclipsed the previous attendance record of 40,000 for an opening match in AFC Asian Cup history that was set in 2004 when China and Bahrain played out a 2-2 draw at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing.
The 3-0 victory, which meant that reigning champions Qatar moved to the top of Group A, was achieved thanks to a brace from Akram Afif and a header from Almoez Ali, with the latter’s strike taking him to joint-second place in the all-time AFC Asian Cup scoring charts on 10 goals.
The match also saw the implementation of the Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) system, marking its debut at an AFC competition and making the AFC the first Confederation in world football to apply the system at the Continental Men’s national team level. The SAOT system complemented the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, which made its full debut following its successful implementation from the Quarter-final stage during the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
