Doha: A stoppage-time penalty from Jassim al-Sharshani in the ninth minute of added time secured Qatar’s under-23s a place in the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup, to be held in Saudi Arabia. The 2–1 comeback win over Bahrain concluded their qualifying campaign in dramatic fashion at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium during the final round of Group H matches .

Bahrain had taken the lead in the 71st minute through substitute Abd al-Rahman al-Khayyat. Qatar’s equalizer came in the first minute of stoppage time via al-Hashimi Hussain. The winning goal was delivered even later, after the Qatari team had been reduced to ten men due to the sending off of Ayoub Mohammed .

The match began with Qatar controlling proceedings confidently after two prior wins, but Bahrain put up a resilient fight, and the first half concluded without goals. The second half saw Bahrain capitalize with a headed goal, but Qatar intensified their efforts and ultimately turned the game around in thrilling fashion .

In the parallel group match, India dominated Brunei Darussalam with a 6–0 victory .

Qatar finished the group stage perfectly with nine points, topping the group. India finished with six points in second place, while Bahrain took three points, and Brunei ended with zero. Qatar earns automatic qualification as group winners, while India awaits the outcome for the best second-placed teams .

This marks the sixth time in their history that Qatar’s U23s have qualified for the continental finals, with their most notable achievement being a third-place finish in the 2018 edition .