“For us, it’s a very good step in the right direction,” said Morgan. “Everyone wants to win every game and today we played a team with a lot of quality and a team that needed a minimum of a point, maybe a win. 

“So they are always going to push you. Also, we conceded an early goal so we had to show character to come back. I would take a lot of positives out of the game but we also have to improve.”

Mohamed Khaled Gouda struck in the 19th minute to put Qatar in front but Australia stormed back to win the game through efforts from Alex Badolato, Dean Bosnjak and Daniel Bennie, with their clash against China PR on Tuesday to decide the group winners.

For Qatar, defeat meant an early end to their China 2025 campaign, with the West Asian side joining Kyrgyz Republic in exiting the tournament.

Qatar - champions in 2014 - could not build on Gouda’s opener and despite making a concerted effort in the second half, were unable to put away their chances with head coach Felix Sarriugarte admitting the Australians were more clinical.

“Overall, we had a very good game because we faced a very good team and we faced the challenge in a proper way,” said Sarriugarte. 

“In the end, what decided the game was that they were more effective than us. We kept pushing and had a lot of opportunities but we couldn’t find the second goal that would have given them a little bit more pressure.”