Making their first appearance in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup, Syria will face Iran in round of 16 action on Wednesday at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
Team Melli finished top of Group C, claiming a 2-1 victory versus the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on matchday three, while the Syrians qualified as one of the best third-place sides, defeating India 1-0 in their previous encounter.
For an eighth successive time at the Asian Cup, Iran have qualified for the knockout stage, extending their unbeaten run in the group stage of this tournament to 23 matches.
It is the third time in the past four Asian Cups that the Iranians finished the group phase with a 100% record, as they are now unbeaten in 16 consecutive matches in all competitions.
Iran have not lost to an Asian opponent in nearly two years, with South Korea being the last one to defeat them in a March 2022 World Cup qualifier (2-0).
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