It will be Indonesia’s first appearance in the knockout stage, with Palestine, Syria, and Tajikistan also debuting for the inaugural time.

The AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Qatar has reached the Round of 16 stage, with several teams debuting for the team and Indonesia being the final team to reach the knockout stage after the conclusion of the group stage.

The tournament will open with action as Indonesia takes on former champion Australia for a quarterfinal place on Sunday at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

Indonesia, who suffered losses to both Iraq and Japan, barely made it into the Round as they secured a 1-0 win over Vietnam to qualify.

Australia will remain without the services of famed veteran striker Mitch Duke, who is recovering from a hamstring issue.

Instead, the team will look at Kusini Yengi, Craig Goodwin, and Martin Boyle as they struggle to make it count in this tournament despite being one of the favourites on the field.

Australia will look to lock in a fourth consecutive quarterfinal and has defeated Indonesia 11 times in 15 meetings.

On the other side of the pitch on Sunday evening, Tajikistan will make its debut faceoff against the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE has won their last seven matches in all competitions when scoring the first goal of the game and has not lost when doing so since 2020.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the Korean Republic will be one of the most anticipated matches as the AFC Asian Cup title has been won five times between them.

Korea Republic finished second in Group E, while Saudi Arabia, held 0-0 by Thailand, topped Group F with seven points.

Defending champions Qatar, who easily topped Group A with nine points, will face Palestine on Monday.