page_title: 2019 AFC Asian Cup
section_title: Group E
hierarchical_section_title: 2019 AFC Asian Cup / Group stage / Group E
caption_attribution_description: English: Lebanon's defender George Felix Melki (C) vies for the ball with Qatar's forward Akram Afif (L) during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup group E football match between Qatar and Lebanon at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 9, 2019.
context_page_description: The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 February 2019.
  For the first time, the Asian Cup final tournament was contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format that was used from 2004 to 2015. Under this new format, the finalists would contest a group stage consisting of six groups of four teams, followed by a knockout stage of 16 teams. The host nation qualified for the final tournament automatically, while the remaining 23 places were determined among the other 45 national teams of the AFC through a qualifying competition running from 2015 to 2018, part of which also served as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process for the confederation.
  The tournament was won for the first time by Qatar, who defeated Japan 3–1 in the final. This was also Qatar's first ever top 4 finish in the competition. The defending champions, were eliminated by the hosts at the quarter-finals, who subsequently lost to the eventual champions in the semi-finals.
context_section_description: Group E witnessed Qatar and Saudi Arabia qualify to the round of 16. In the decisive match for first place, Qatar beat Saudi Arabia 2–0, thanks to a brace by Almoez Ali. Qatar began their campaign with a comfortable, albeit controversial, 2–0 win over Lebanon, before beating North Korea 6–0, sealing their place in the knockout stage. Ali was decisive in both games, scoring a goal against Lebanon, and four goals against North Korea. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia opened their account with a 4–0 win over North Korea, before booking a place to the next round by beating Lebanon 2–0. In their last fixture, Lebanon beat North Korea 4–1 with a Hilal El-Helwe brace; the win was Lebanon's first in the competition. However, Lebanon missed out on the next round on fair play points.
  Source: AFC
  8 January 2019
  20:00
  Rashid Stadium, Dubai
  Attendance: 5,075
  Referee: Peter Green (Australia)
  9 January 2019
  20:00
  Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
  Attendance: 7,847
  Referee: Ma Ning (China PR)
  12 January 2019
  20:00
  Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
  Attendance: 13,792
  Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)
  13 January 2019
  15:00
  Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
  Attendance: 452
  Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)
  17 January 2019
  20:00
  Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
  Attendance: 16,067
  Referee: Kim Dong-jin (South Korea)
  17 January 2019
  20:00
  Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah
  Attendance: 4,332
  Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)
caption: Qatar v Lebanon
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