It was the Uzbeks who drew first blood in the Group C clash when AFC Youth Player of the Year Dostonbek Khamdamov underlined his growing credentials by netting the fastest goal in the tournament's history, opening the scoring just 11.47 seconds after kickoff.

Goals from Amjad Attwan Kadhim and Mahdi Kamil did overturn the deficit for the Iraqis before the break, but it looked as though Timur Khakimov had earned Uzbekistan a point when he headed home an equaliser in the 79th minute.

Nonetheless, just two minutes later, Tareq popped up to score the decider and seal his team's progress to the quarter-finals along with Korea Republic, with Monday's tie between the two sides set to decide the group winners.

Widely regarded as one of the most-talented Iraqi players of his generation, Tareq was proud of the spirit his team-mates displayed and sees no reason why they should not be targeting a repeat of their success in 2013.

"It was an important win and - thank God - I contributed to it with a late goal," he said.

"Uzbekistan are a strong team at any level, in any competition and their early goal put us under a bit of pressure, but we fought our way back.

"It was a team effort and we showed great spirit.

"We're very happy to have collected six points from two games and progressed to the last eight of this fantastic tournament - It's now between us and Korea Republic to decide the group winners.

"We hope to continue in the same way and retain the title we had won in Oman."

Tareq, at the age of 16, became the youngest player to ever represent the senior Iraq national team in December 2012 and shot to prominence the following month at the Gulf Cup of Nations in Bahrain.

The now 19-year-old was once again the toast of the fans as they rushed to take selfies with him and chanted his name at the final whistle at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium.

Although the defending champions now have a quarter-final tie to work towards, Tareq insists they will not be getting ahead of themselves.

"Everybody is appreciating Iraq's good work so far and it's nice to hear that," added the fleet-footed attacker. "But we need to stay focused and keep winning.

"It's not so important who your opponents are in the quarter-final because all teams are strong at this level.

"Yet, a win against Korea Republic will make our players more confident and it'll help us sustain our momentum going into the tough knockout stage."

Despite his tender years, Tareq already has plenty of international experience to his name having appeared as last year's AFC Asian Cup, as well as being a part of the sides that reached the semi-finals of the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup and 2014 Asian Games.