Afif’s Hat Trick of Penalties Secures Qatar Back-to-Back Asian Cup Titles After Beating Jordan 3-1
Published on February 11, 2024
LUSAIL, Qatar—Akram Afif dropped to his knees. Pretty soon he was being thrown into the air by his joyous teammates after the forward’s hat trick of penalties secured back-to-back Asian Cup titles for Qatar. Afif, the outstanding player of the tournament and leading scorer with eight goals, was nerveless when converting his spot kicks in a 3–1 win against Jordan at Lusail Stadium on Saturday. Just over a year ago it had been Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe who had lit up this spectacular venue in arguably the greatest World Cup final of all time. On this occasion it was Afif taking center stage and becoming the first player to score a hat trick in the Asian Cup final....