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Magician Akram Afif Scores Hat-Trick of Penalties As Qatar Beat Jordan in AFC Asian Cup Final

Akram Afif scored a hat-trick of penalties as Qatar beat Jordan 3-1 in the Asian Cup final. Golden Boot winner Afif celebrated his 1st goal with a magic trick.

Robert Summerscales

Magician Akram Afif Scores Hat-Trick of Penalties As Qatar Beat Jordan in AFC Asian Cup Final
Magician Akram Afif Scores Hat-Trick of Penalties As Qatar Beat Jordan in AFC Asian Cup Final /

Akram Afif scored a hat-trick as tournament hosts Qatar beat Jordan 3-1 in the final of the AFC Asian Cup on Saturday.

All three of Afif's goals came from penalty kicks and saw him end the tournament with the Golden Boot.

Afif, who plays his club soccer for Qatari side Al Sadd, had scored five goals en route to the final and therefore ended up with eight overall - two more than Iraq's Aymen Hussein.

Akram Afif pictured (center) scoring one of his three penalty goals for Qatar during his team's 3-1 win over Jordan in the final of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup
Akram Afif scored three goals, all from penalty kicks, as Qatar beat Jordan 3-1 in the final of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup :: IMAGO/Xinhua/Sun Fanyue

Jordan had more possession than Qatar and recorded twice as many shots in Saturday's final.

The first-time finalists had home fans at Lusail Stadium sweating when Yazan Al-Naimat equalized midway through the second half.

But Qatar - who had earlier opened the scoring in the 22nd minute - prevailed thanks to two late spot-kicks, both awarded following VAR reviews.

Before scoring a hat-trick, Afif had celebrated his first goal of the final with a magic trick - using a card he had stored in his sock.

Akram Afif pictured performing a magic trick after scoring his first of three goals for Qatar against Jordan in the final of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup
Afif performed a magic trick after scoring his first goal on Saturday :: IMAGO/Xinhua/Jia Haocheng

Qatar are now the fifth nation in Asian Cup history to win the tournament in back-to-back editions, having also triumphed in the UAE in 2019.

The other teams to win consecutive Asian Cup titles are Japan (2000 and 2004), Saudi Arabia (1984 and 1988), Iran (1968, 1972 and 1976) and South Korea (1956 and 1960).

Highlights: Jordan 1-3 Qatar

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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.