Hangzhou, China: Qatar will take on Japan in the opening match of group D in the football tournament at the Asian Games 2023 at the Xiaoshan Sports Center Stadium. Coming off a successful run in the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ 2024 Qualifiers, where the men in maroon won all three matches in the qualifying group, Qatar will look forward to maintaining their recent form against a formidable Japan side, just forty-eight hours before taking on Palestine in matchday2. Coach Ildio Vale has called up a roster of 23 players for this event; the players are Amir Hassan, Ali Nader, Yousif Abdullah, Jassim Jaber, Saif Hassan, Abdullah Rashid, Abdullah Al Sulaiti, Abdullah Al Ali, Abdullah Yousif, Mohammed Ayash, Osama Tairi, Khalid Ali, Abdulrahman Rafaat, Mustafa Meshal, Nabil Erfan Mahdi Mejbaa, Nayed Al Hadrami, Tamim Mansour, Ahmed Al Rawi, Elyas Hameed, Lutfi Majer and Mohammed Seraj. The men’s football tournament at the Asian Games 2023 will be an U-23 affair with a maximum of three senior players allowed in each squad. A total of 23 teams will compete for medals at Hangzhou. For the group stage, the teams were divided into six groups – five with four each and one with three. The top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams across all groups will progress to the round of 16. The Asian Games football tournament will begin on September 19, just before the Games’ official start on September 23. On October 7, the second-to-last day of the games, the final match will take place. The Republic of Korea are the defending champions and the most successful nation in men’s football at the Asian Games with five titles. Iran are second with four gold medals. Group A: China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India Group B: Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mongolia Group C: Uzbekistan, Syria, Hong Kong, Afghanistan Group D: Japan, Palestine, Qatar Group E: South Korea, Bahrain, Thailand, Kuwait Group F: North Korea, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Chinese Taipei