The Lebanon national football team is set to play a decisive match against Tajikistan tomorrow at 17:00 Beirut time, in the third and final round of Group A matches in the Asian Cup finals. The team knows there is no alternative to victory in its quest to qualify for the Round of 16 for the first time in its history, having earned its first point in the last match against China, which has two points from two draws against Tajikistan and Lebanon, and will face Qatar, who has already qualified after achieving two consecutive victories.
While eyes will also be on the Qatar-China match, the focus will significantly be on the Lebanon-Tajikistan encounter, especially following the notable performance by the "Cedars" against China, where they were thwarted by luck at times and lacked efficiency at others. This is what Montenegrin head coach Miodrag Radulović emphasized at the press conference the day before the match, stating: "Football rewards serious work. Tomorrow is a big and decisive match for us in front of a large audience. I believe we will all be happy at the end of the match." He added: "We have worked hard to enhance our effectiveness to make the difference against a team that has not scored yet as well. I trust that the players have the ability to break the scoring drought tomorrow."
Scoring goals seems essential for Lebanon, but without neglecting defensive duties, as "Rado" mentioned, since the Tajik team consists of a group of young and energetic players. There is only one player out of 26 who is 30 years old, including professionals playing in Russia, Iran, and Uzbekistan, with 10 of them active in the Esteghlal team competing in the AFC Champions League. Croatian coach Peter Segrt is familiar with several Lebanese players in the squad since he faced the "Cedars" led by Radulović when he was coaching Afghanistan in a friendly match held in 2016 at the Tripoli Olympic Stadium, which ended with a 2-0 victory for Lebanon, with goals from Hilal Al-Hilweh and Hassan Maatouk from a penalty.
Segrt described the upcoming match in his press conference as a "final match." He stated, "We respect the Lebanon national team, but we want to present a historic match. I believe in all our players' abilities, and we are capable of scoring goals and want to win to continue in the tournament." Lebanon will rely heavily on the great enthusiasm of its players, eager to qualify, and on a large crowd expected to fill the stands of Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Al Sadd, where obtaining match tickets has become a rare commodity.
Defender Khalil Khamis noted the importance of Lebanese fans supporting the team in Doha, stating, "I thank them all; they will be a motivation for us in tomorrow's match, and we want to qualify to make our fans happy here and in Lebanon." Amid preparations for this crucial match, the Lebanese team faced another setback as striker Hassan "Soni" Saad was added to the list of absentees, joining midfielder Jihad Ayoub, who has been missing since the start of the tournament, and defender Noor Mansour, who exited early during the match against China, along with Felix Malek, who had to leave the camp due to injury as well. Saad, an important player in the Lebanese line-up, sustained a left shoulder ligament tear during last night's training.
Despite this setback, morale seems high among the players who met today with the president of the Lebanese Football Federation, Engineer Hashem Haidar, who took the time to have lunch with them and motivate them to achieve what the Lebanese people expect of them.
**Qualification Scenarios for Second Place**
Lebanon can qualify by finishing in second place if it wins against Tajikistan and China fails to win against Qatar. China can qualify by finishing in second place if it wins against Qatar or draws with Qatar, provided that the match between Tajikistan and Lebanon ends in a draw or China loses to Qatar with a score of 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, etc., and the match between Tajikistan and Lebanon ends in a goalless draw.
Tajikistan can qualify by finishing in second place if it wins against Lebanon and China fails to win against Qatar, or if it achieves a positive draw with Lebanon and China loses to Qatar, or if it draws goalless with Lebanon and China loses to Qatar by two goals or more.
**Note:** If China loses to Qatar 0-1 and Tajikistan draws goalless with Lebanon, the second place will be decided between China and Tajikistan based on the fair play ranking.
**Match Statistics between Lebanon and Tajikistan**
This will be the first encounter between Lebanon and Tajikistan, which will be the 71st opponent in Lebanon's history. Lebanon, under the management of Miodrag Radulović, has previously faced 6 teams for the first time, winning 5 matches with 1 draw.
Tajikistan's coach Peter Segrt had previously faced Lebanon in a friendly match in September 2016 while coaching Afghanistan, which ended in a 0-2 defeat for Afghanistan in Tripoli. Tajikistan is the third team Lebanon faces for the first time on Qatari soil, after Qatar (1985) and Djibouti (2021). This will be Lebanon's seventh match at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
