Saudi Arabia exit 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, fail to reach Paris Olympics

Saudi Arabia exited the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup on Friday after a 2-0 loss to Uzbekistan at Khalifa International Stadium in Al-Rayyan.

The defeat means that the Green Falcons, winners of the the last edition of the tournament in 2022, cannot reach the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris — a bitter blow for coach Saad Al-Shehri who had led the team to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

For Uzbekistan, the win brings a small measure of revenge having lost the last AFC U-23 Asian Cup final 2-0 to Saudi Arabia in Tashkent two years ago.

Uzbekistan took the lead through Khusayin Norchaev two minutes into first-half stoppage time, and Saudi Arabia’s task became harder when Ayman Yahya was sent off on 70 minutes.

Saudi’s 10 men could not find an equalizer, and Uzbekistan put the game to bed thanks to Umarali Rakhmonaliev’s goal on 84 minutes.

In Monday’s first semifinal at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Uzbekistan will face Indonesia, who beat South Korea 11-10 on penalties after their quarterfinal ended in a 2-2 draw.

In the other semifinal, Japan, who beat hosts Qatar 4-2 after extra time, will await the winner of the last-eight clash between Iraq and Vietnam.