Qatar stunned South Korea by winning 1-0 in the opening match of the day, while hosts UAE edged out defending champions Australia by the same scoreline.

The results have led to the tournament, whose slogan is "Bringing Asia Together", seeing two feuding nations facing each other in the last four.

Hosts UAE are among the nations who cut ties with Qatar in 2017, joining Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in accusing the gulf state of supporting terrorism, a claim which has been denied.

A resulting blockade included withdrawing ambassadors and imposing trade and travel bans.

The heightened political climate has provided a tense backdrop to the tournament, with few fans having travelled from Qatar.

Having already won what was billed as the "blockade derby" against Saudi Arabia in the group stage, Qatar now face another match with a political background.

On the pitch, the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts proved able to cause a major upset as they eliminated South Korea at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Qatar benefited from some wasteful South Korean finishing during the match, before scoring late in the second half.

A long range effort from Abdelaziz Hatim found the bottom left corner of the South Korean net in the 78th minute.

South Korea thought they had mustered an instant response moments later when Hwang Ui-jo turned a right wing cross into the net.

A video assistant referee review revealed the South Korean had strayed beyond the last defender, resulting in his effort being ruled out for offside.

Qatar held on to their narrow advantage in the closing stages to reach the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time.

Hosts UAE avenged their defeat in the 2015 semi-finals against Australia, whose underwhelming campaign came to an end at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.

Ali Mabkhout, who had missed a close range header in the first half, made amends in the second.

The forward latched onto an under hit backpass by Australia’s Milos Degenek before rounding goalkeeper Matthew Ryan to roll the ball into an empty net.

Australia were unable to recover from the shock, as the UAE booked their place in the semi-finals.