All photos courtesy of the Qatar Football Association on Facebook

Qatar’s national youth football team secured a solid win against China last night at the opening of the AFC Under-23 Championship at the Abdullah bin Khalifa (Lekhwiya) Stadium.

Qatar is hosting the competition, which is organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from top youth teams in Asia.

The first goal of the night was scored 43 minutes in by China, but Qatar evened the score after halftime, with Abdulkarim Hassan sending two of the goals into the net, and Ahmed Alaaedin scoring the last, according to Doha Stadium Plus.

Meanwhile, Iran and Syria, the other teams in Group A, also faced off last night, with Iran coming out on top 2-0.

Qatar will face Iran on Friday, Jan. 15.

The top three teams at the U23 Asian Football Championships, which will be held here over the next three weeks, will earn places for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, representing Asia.

Tickets to the matches can be bought online here.

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