Oman trounced Qatar 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a semifinal clash with hosts Bahrain in the fifth GCC Olympic U23 Football Championship at the National Stadium in Manama.

Abdullah Saleh Abdulhadi, Badar Naseeb and Sami Khamis al Hassani scored for Oman.

The resounding victory helped Oman finish runner-up in Group B behind Saudi Arabia.

It was a must-win match for both Oman and Qatar as they had lost their respective games against the in-form Saudis.

Oman will take on the home team, which topped Group A, on Thursday, while Saudi Arabia plays Group A runner-up Kuwait in the other semifinal on Friday.

The third-place match will be played on Sunday, while the final will take place on Monday.

The opening goal of the match came in the 14th minute when Abdulhadi put Oman ahead after capitalising on a counter-attack.

Qatar goalkeeper Saoud Mubarak failed to properly clear a cross that flew in from his right, and an opportunistic Abdulhadi rushed in, got hold of the ball and calmly tapped it in.

The Qataris stayed in the contest till late into the second half, but their hopes of a comeback were dashed when Oman thumped in two more goals to wrap up a big win.

Naseeb made it 2-0 in the 78th minute following a smart two-man attack with Hassani.

With the strike partners threatening the Qatari defence from both sides of the area, Hassani sent a sharp pass to Saleem, who slotted home from close range.

Hassani himself contributed to the scoring in the dying moments to wrap up a successful outing for his team.

He fired home – finding the roof of the net – in the fourth minute of stoppage-time, also from close range, after a tired Qatari defence left him unmarked in the box.