Iraq beat Japan in one of all-time great Asian Cup shocks

Iraq claimed one of the all-time great Asian Cup shocks on Friday when they defeated one of the tournament favourites in Japan and qualified for the knockout stages in Qatar.

A first-half double from Aymen Hussein earned Iraq a 2-1 victory – their first over the Japanese in 42 years – in front of jubilant fans at the Education City Stadium.

Iraq won their first game at the tournament 3-1 against Indonesia and their latest victory took them top of Group D with six points, three clear of Japan in second place. They face Vietnam in their final group game on Wednesday.

"Today is a great day for Iraqi people but for us it's just a win. We have six points, but the players must now think of Vietnam and they need to rest,” Iraq manager Jesus Casas told reporters.

“I'm very proud of my players. All Iraqi players should be proud … The perfect match is impossible, but we were close to the perfect match I wanted.”

Roared on by thousands of Iraqi supporters in the stadium, Iraq opened the scoring inside five minutes when Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki failed to deal with a cross, parrying the ball straight to Hussein who headed it into the top corner.

Iraq, who are ranked 63 in the world to Japan's 17, made 2-0 in first-half injury-time when Ahmed Al Hajjaj skipped past his marker and floated in a cross that was headed home from point-blank range by Hussein.

A decisive goal for Iraq