DOHA: Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates topped their respective groups to ease into the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday.
On a frantic day of action across Asia when eight places in the 12-team third round remained unclaimed prior to kick-off, Iraq, Oman, China, Vietnam and Lebanon also made it through after finishing among the five best second-placed teams.
Syria, Japan, South Korea and Australia had already clinched their spots in the deciding round, from which four countries will advance to next year’s tournament in Qatar.
Qatar, who topped Group ‘E’, will not play in the final phase as they qualify automatically as hosts.
Sardar Azmoun’s first half goal earned Iran a 1-0 win over Iraq in Bahrain that saw them top Group ‘C’ while the UAE edged Vietnam 3-2 in Dubai to win Group ‘G’.
Saudi Arabia handed Uzbekistan a 3-0 loss to secure top spot in Group ‘D’ to advance, ending the Central Asians’ World Cup hopes in the process. China progressed to the next phase of qualifying with a 3-1 victory over Syria.
The third round of qualifying starts in September.
To qualify, both Iran and the UAE needed to topple the teams that went into the final round of matches leading their groups. They did it in contrasting styles.
Azmoun struck 10 minutes from the end of the first half against Iraq at the Sheikh Ali bin Mohamed al-Khalifa Stadium in Muharraq to earn a fourth win in a row and seal first place in Group ‘C’ with victory over their neighbours.
The Zenit Saint Petersburg striker, who has played a pivotal role for his team since the qualifiers resumed, tapped in from close range after captain Ehsan Hajsafi made his way up the left flank and sent in a cross.
Both teams fluffed chances later but Iran hung on to their lead to take their tally to 18 points from eight matches, while Iraq finished on 17.
Vietnam wasted their two-point advantage at the top of Group ‘G’ as they were beaten by the Emiratis with Ali Salmeen and Ali Mabkhout finding the net in the first half.
Mahmoud Khamis made it 3-0 five minutes after the break, before Nguyen Tian Linh and Tran Minh Vuong scored late efforts as the Vietnamese did enough to qualify for the final round for the first time in their history.
Salman Al Faraj’s first half double in Riyadh gave Saudi Arabia plenty of breathing space in their crucial clash with Uzbekistan, with both goals coming inside the first 33 minutes for Herve Renard’s side.
Ali Al Hassan added the third to give the Saudis a win that not only won them Group ‘D’ with 20 points from eight matches, but left Uzbekistan missing out on one of the spots available for the second place finishers.
In a high-stakes, must-win game to have any chance of getting to Qatar in 2022, China beat Syria, already confirmed as Group ‘A’ winners, in their last match.
Zhang Xizhe scored two minutes before the break in Sharjah and second-half goals from Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning sealed China’s fourth consecutive win. Syria’s goal was scored by Aias Aosman.
China’s only World Cup appearance was in 2002, when Japan and South Korea co-hosted football’s marquee tournament in Asia for the first time.
Oman, another of those who go through as one of the best runners-up, defeated Bangladesh 3-0 to confirm their second place finish in Group E behind Qatar.
The Lebanese, who lost their final game against the South Koreans on Sunday, claimed the last of the five runners-up spots available after Uzbekistan’s defeat and Jordan’s 1-0 loss to Group ‘B’ winners Australia.
Australia and Japan were the only two teams to advance by winning all eight games in the second round.
Australia beat Jordan in a gritty game in Kuwait City, with Stoke City defender Harry Souttar heading home after 77 minutes to score his sixth goal in just his fifth international appearance.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” the 22-year-old Souttar said of his tally, “but forget about the goal. It was all about the performance and the three points.”
Australia played seven of its eight matches away from home in the second round because of restrictions in place for the Covid-19 pandemic, scoring 28 goals and conceding just two.
Earlier striker Ado Onaiwu bagged a six-minute first-half hat-trick as Japan confirmed their dominance in Group ‘F’ with a crushing 5-1 win over the Kyrgyz Republic in Suita, Japan.
Manager Hajime Moriyasu made five changes to the side that beat Tajikistan 4-1 a week ago and opted for Onaiwu to lead the attack in the absence of Takumi Minamino, who withdrew from the squad last week “due to club circumstances”.
With qualification already secured, Minamino, who had netted in all seven of Japan’s previous group matches, reportedly left after playing in the 1-0 friendly win against Serbia on Thursday, to sort out a move from Liverpool to Southampton.
In his place, Onaiwu opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 27th minute after a handball by Aizar Akmatov.
Onaiwu tapped in his second four minutes later at the far post after good work down the right by Kawabe Hayao and completed his quickfire treble in the 33rd minute with a towering header.
Takuma Asano and Sho Sasaki added two more after the break while Kyrgyz captain Mirlan Murzaev scored their consolation penalty in first-half stoppage time.
In the other Group ‘F’ match, Tajikistan beat Myanmar 4-0 in Osaka to seal second place.
Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2021