Iraq beats Indonesia to seal Paris 2024 berth in men’s football

© Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto
© Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto

Doha, Qatar, May 2, 2024: Iraq beat Indonesia 2-1 after extra time in the bronze medal match of the AFC U23 Asian Cup on Thursday to clinch Asia’s third automatic place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Japan and Uzbekistan had already booked Asia’s first two tickets to Paris by reaching the final of the AFC U23 Asian Cup, and were joined by Iraq.

Indonesia will now play Guinea in an inter-continental play-off in France next week to decide the last spot in Paris, so Indonesia could increase Asia’s allocation to four.

Iraq and Indonesia were locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes before Ali Jasim broke the deadlock six minutes into extra time to send Iraq to the Olympics.

Japan will face Uzbekistan on Friday, May 3 in the final of the AFC U23 Asian Cup.