Al Rayyan qualified for the Round of 16 of 2022 AFC Champions League by being among the top three second-placed teams before they defeated reigning champions Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia 2-0 in the sixth and final round of 2022 AFC Champions League Group A at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Ivorian striker Yohan Boli scored in the 43rd minute for Al Rayyan, who were helped by an own goal by Al Hilal’s Jang Hyun-Soo in the fifth minute.

Both Al Rayyan and Al Hilal finished with 13 points, but the former were placed first on better goal difference (+6 as against Al Rayyan’s +3).

Sharjah FC and Tajikistan’s Istiklol ended up in third and fourth place with five and three points respectively.

The top team from each group qualify for the Round of 16 along with the three best second-placed teams from the five West Asia groups.

Al Rayyan played well against Al Hilal and succeeded in taking the half-time break with a 2-0 margin.

The opening goal came early in the form of a mistake committed by Al Hilal player Jang, who put a header into his own net.

Boli added the second with a shot from inside the area close to the end of first half.

In the second half, Al Rayyan held on to their lead and no further goals came.

Al Rayyan had defeated Istiklol 1-0 in Round 5.

The Lions had beaten Istiklol 3-2 in their opener, but lost 0-3 to Al Hilal in the second round.

In the third round, Al Rayyan and Sharjah played out a 1-1 draw.

However, Al Rayyan defeated Sharjah 3-1 in back-to-back match, in the fourth round.