Fajr Ibrahim, where they after victories over Lebanon and Jordan (both 1–0), lost in the semifinals to Iraq 0–3. A year later, the Qasioun Eagles took part in the 2008 WAAF Cup, where after a 2–1 victory over Oman and a draw with Jordan, they advanced to the semifinals, where they lost to Iran (0–2). At the 2009 Nehru Cup, Syria sovereignly won the group stage, defeating Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and, in a close match, India (1–0). In the final of the cup, they encountered India, with which they lost 1–2 on penalties (the only Syrian scorer was Ali Diab). In the qualifications for the World Cup 2010, the team of Syria beat the Afghanistan in the 1st round, then the Indonesia in the 2nd round, but narrowly failed in the 3rd round to qualify for the 4th round, due to a unfavorable goal average, behind UAE and Iran, but ahead of Kuwait. The Syrian team qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar after a long absence from it since 1996, where it ascended to the championship without any loss in the qualifiers. They were eliminated from the group stage again after losing to Jordan and Japan and defeating Saudi Arabia. Shortly afterwards, they were disqualified from the 2014 World Cup due to the use of an ineligible player. In December 2012, Syria beat Iraq in the final of West Asia Cup to collect its first major trophy and Ahmad Al Saleh became the scorer of the historic winning goal (1–0). Official Syrian television interrupted its broadcasts to announce the victory and show the presentation of the cup live. From 2013 to 2016: Withdrawal from positions In 2013, the Syrian team withdrew from the WAAF Cup due to the war in the country. In the following years, the situation in the national team was not good because they could not play at home stadiums. The Syrian national team missed the 2015 AFC Asian Cup after failing to qualify and occupying third place in the Group A that included Jordan, Singapore and Oman. In 2016, Syria took part in the King's Cup under national team captain Mosab Balhous and head coach Ayman Hakeem, where they lost in the semifinals after a penalty shootout with Thailand and defeated the United Arab Emirates 1–0 in third place match. 2018 World Cup qualifiers: Syria close to great success Ever since war