The Round of 16 action will begin with Australia facing Indonesia at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Sunday, but with the dust just settling after the group fixtures, join the-AFC.com as we review the group stage of the continental showpiece by taking a closer look at some of the key facts and stats that caught the eye.

A goal fest

A total of 87 goals were scored in the 36 group stage matches across 14 days in the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup at an average of 2.4 goals per game. Matchday One produced the most goals at 37 with Jordan’s 4-0 win against Malaysia in their opener proving to be the biggest winning margin yet.

Japan, Korea Republic and Iraq have scored the most goals at eight apiece while the Islamic Republic of Iran scored seven times as they progressed as Group C winners.

Leading the charge

Iraq striker Aymen Hussein tops the goalscoring charts with five goals after the group stage. The 28-year-old sealed a 3-1 win over Indonesia for the Lions of Mesopotamia in their opener before hitting back-to-back braces in victories against four-time champions Japan and Vietnam.

Qatar’s Akram Afif, Japan’s Ayase Ueda and Korea Republic’s Lee Kang-in trail Hussein having scored three goals each in the tournament.

Pass masters

No player made more passes in the group stage than Australia centre-back Harry Souttar who attempted 314 passes with a success rate of 82.5 percent. Korea Republic midfielder Hwang In-beom comes in at second place with 271 passes and has a tournament-high 176 passes in the opposition half while Japan’s Wataru Endo is third with 269 passes.

Among teams, Korea Republic have made the most passes so far at 2,099 passes followed by Japan (2,005) passes and Saudi Arabia (1,949)

Super savers

United Arab Emirates goalkeeper Khalid Eisa made the most saves in the group stage with the Al Ain FC custodian making 12 stops, including denying Palestine’s Tamer Seyam from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw on Matchday Two.

Tajikistan’s Rustam Yatimov, Jordan’s Yazeed Abulaila, India’s Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Malaysia’s Syihan Hazmi finished joint second with 11 saves with Yatimov enjoying the best save percentage (85%) among them.

Brick walls

Hosts and defending champions Qatar and Thailand are the only two teams who did not concede a single goal in the group stage. While Qatar posted wins against Tajikistan, Lebanon and China PR, the Thais beat Kyrgyz Republic 2-0 before holding Oman and Saudi Arabia to goalless draws and progressed.

Australia, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and China all conceded just once and kept two clean sheets in their group stage outings.

Creative fulcrums

Korea Republic duo Lee Kang-in and Lee Jae-sung led the chart when it came to creating chances with nine and eight chances respectively as the Taegeuk Warriors progressed to the last 16 as runners-up to Bahrain in Group E.
Palestine captain Musab Al Battat also created eight chances – seven of which came from open play – and has so far bagged two assists for Makram Daboub’s side.

Tough tacklers
Al Battat also attempted and won the most tackles during the group stage. The 30-year-old full-back made 18 tackles and won 12 of them while Korean attacking midfielder Lee Jae-sung won 10 of the 12 tackles he attempted.

Indonesia’s Marselino Ferdinan took third place when it came to the number of successful tackles as he won half of the 16 tackles he attempted in the opening three matches.