Entering the match with 4 points from a win against Yemen and a draw ahead of Kuwait the Saudis only need a draw to advance while for Qatar, with three points from a win against Yemen and a defeat in the opening match by Kuwait, the only option was to win.

It was obvious Qatar had to play aggressive football to boost its chances at victory. The first half ended 0-0 as the Saudis foiled many a Qatari attempt to score a goal.

Under increasing pressure and only 45 minutes away from elimination, Qatar was in full attack mode with Sebastien Soria nearly scoring on more than one occasion.

Qatar’s aggressiveness finally paid off when Ibrahim Al-Ghanim headed in a goal to the left of the goalkeeper in the 85th minute. The goal had the Qataris erupting into a frenzied celebration, which was a shortlived one as the Saudis equalized five minutes later on an own goal.

After Saleh Basher was fielded in to boost the Saudi striking line, Usama Al-Muwallad received a nice pass in the last minute of the match inside the penalty box and fed the ball to Mohanad Aseri.

Qatar defender Shami then made a mistake. Instead of clearing the ball away he put it in their own goal in the 90th minute.

Qatar never recovered from the blunder.

Kuwait qualified along with Saudi Arabia after defeating Yemen 3-0 in the other match that was played simultaneously with the Saudi-Qatar tie. Kuwait qualified first of the group with seven points and Saudi second with five points. Qatar ended up with third in the group on four points and Yemen fourth and last with no point.

The Group B qualifiers will be determined on Monday when Oman faces Iraq and UAE takes on Bahrain. Iraq leads the group on four points, Oman second on two points, UAE third on two points and Bahrain fourth and last on one point.