Uzbekistan beat Thailand 2-1 in a Round of 16 match on Tuesday at the AFC Asian Cup.

Azizbek Turgunboev, the winger for Pakhtakor club in the Uzbekistan Super League, and Abbosbek Fayzullaev from CSKA Moscow, scored in each half to book a fifth quarterfinal appearance for their national team.

Thailand's Supachok Sarachat (C) vies with Uzbekistan's Rustamjon Ashurmatov (L) and Odiljon Xamrobekov during the round of 16 match between Uzbekistan and Thailand at AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 in Doha, Qatar, Jan. 30, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Uzbekistan will meet defending champions Qatar in the next round as the hosts beat Palestine 2-1 on Monday.

Thailand, who entered the tournament's last 16 for the second time in a row, ended their campaign in Doha.

On a cool afternoon at Al Janoub Stadium, Uzbekistan, ranking 45 places higher than the opponents, showed advantage in physical battle with a dominant aerial duels rate for the ball in the first half.

Posing more threat, Uzbekistan, the top team in Central Asia, broke the deadlock in 37th minute.

Diyor Kholmatov, who organized the midfield with pace and view, sent an overhead pass into the right side of the area, where his club teammate Turgunboev picked up the ball after a delicate stop with chest and struck a left-footed shot to the center of the goal.

After the restart, Thailand increased tempo and intensity when they were rewarded with a goal after a series of non-stop short passes.

Supachok Sarachat, who plays as an attacking midfielder in the Japanese league, struck a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner to make it 1-1 in 58th minute.

Fayzullaev, the winger in the 3-4-3 formation, responded with another long-range shot to regain the lead at 2-1 for Uzbekistan just seven minutes later.

The Asian Cup, featuring a total of 24 teams, runs from January 12 to February 10.

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