Qatar carved out a piece of footballing history for themselves on Friday, winning the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in a 3-1 upset win over four-time winners Japan in Abu Dhabi, UAE .

Qatar's forward Hasan Al Haydos, center, lifts the trophy for the winners of the AFC Asian Cup final match between Japan and Qatar in Zayed Sport City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. [Photo: AP]

Qatar raced into the lead when Almoez Ali put the ball into the net in the 12th minute. Abdulaziz Hatem then doubled his country's tally in the 27th minute to put Qatar 2-0 up at half time.

Japan halved the deficit in the 69th minute through Takumi Minamino - the first goal Qatar had conceded in the tournament - but were a little unlucky in the 80th minute when the referee gave a penalty to Qatar for handball against Maya Yoshida after a video review.

Akram Afif put away the spot kick and capped an ultimately comfortable win for Qatar.