President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani for winning the Asian Cup after beating four-time champion Japan on Friday.

In a phone call held Saturday, Erdoğan congratulated Qatar's success, after the team beat Japan 3-1 at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.

The two leaders also discussed bilateral relations and pledged to continue to further strengthen ties, presidential sources said.

Qatar is preparing to host the World Cup in 2022.

Although the tournament was originally scheduled to be held in the summer, FIFA organizers switched it to November and December 2022 due to scorching weather.