DOHA (AFP) -- Uruguayan-born Sebastian Soria scored one of the goals which helped Qatar defeat defending champions Iran 2-0 on Tuesday and send the hosts into a first ever Asian Games football final.

Former Manchester City player Yaser Hussain added the second as Qatar set up a gold medal showdown on Friday against Iraq who put out South Korea 1-0 in their semifinal.

Defeat was particularly bitter for Iran who went into the match boasting a 15-match unbeaten run in the Asian Games stretching back to the 1998 event in Bangkok.

Eighteen-year-old Soria, who was only granted Qatari citizenship last month on the eve of the Games, struck first with a wonderful finish in the 29th minute.

A long ball out of defense from Majdi Siddiq evaded the Iran backline allowing Soria to run onto the pass and bury the ball from an acute angle with his left foot past Iran goalkeeper Hassan Rudbarian.

Iran almost snatched an equalizer five minutes later when Maziar Zare’ was clean through after a gaping hole appeared in the Qatar defense.

But his first touch was poor and Qatar goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr was allowed time to gather.

Iran, who came into the tournament under a cloud after their federation was temporarily suspended and who needed a marathon penalty shootout to beat China in the last eight, tried in vain to find a way through after the break.

They failed and Qatar made them pay in the 74th minute.

Hussain, who spent six months with English Premiership side Manchester City last season, unleashed a long-range drive which took a cruel deflection off Jalal Hosseini and over Rudbarian into the net.

The final will feature two of the most unlikely sides.

Qatar only squeezed into the quarterfinals as a best runner-up while Iraq had to pre-qualify and then lost their opening group game 1-0 to China.