The home team dominated the first half but the two sides went to the break goalless after Syria goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma made several good stops. South Korea is second in the group with two wins and a draw in three matches. The star forward saved the Koreans from what would have been a deeply disappointing draw. In Group A on Thursday, Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min scored an 89th-minute winner to give South Korea a nervy 2-1 home win over Syria in Ansan, South Korea. The Espanyol striker kept China’s hopes of qualifying alive with his goal in the fifth minute of added time after Vietnam rallied from a two-goal deficit.
In Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Wu Lei struck twice, including an injury time winner, as China beat Vietnam 3-2 for its first win after two straight losses. That, however, was canceled out by Rabia Al Mandhar, before second-half goals from Martin Boyle and Mitchell Duke helped the Australians maintain their perfect qualifying record. The Socceroos took the lead through Awer Mabil’s ninth-minute goal. Moriyasu’s Japan squad must regroup quickly before its next qualifier against Australia at Saitama Stadium on Tuesday.Īustralia defeated Oman 3-1 in Doha to secure an 11th straight win in qualifying for Qatar 2022, breaking the record for consecutive victories in the same campaign which it had shared with Germany, Spain and Mexico. The Saudis, managed by Frenchman Herve Renard, won 3-1 over Vietnam in Riyadh and 1-0 away to Oman in their earlier group games. Samurai Blue suffered a shock upset at home against Oman in their opening Group B match early last month before beating China 1-0 in Qatar. Vietnam remains winless and sits at the bottom of the group with no points. Japan, which is ranked 26th, Oman and China each have three points in Group B. The winner and runner-up in each group qualifies for next year’s tournament in the Middle East directly, and the two third-placed teams will face each other at home and away in another round for a place in the tournament. The third round has two groups of six teams, with each squad facing the others in their group twice. “If we don’t give up, I believe we can still win a ticket to the World Cup,” the 53-year-old said. He remained defiant, though, insisting the team’s hopes of reaching a seventh straight World Cup are still alive. “We got tired and lost our rhythm, that’s when they capitalized and scored,” Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu said. A goal from substitute Firas Al Birakan in the 71st minute gave the hosts the victory at King Abdulla Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, leaving Japan with three points from three games while Saudi Arabia joined Australia atop the group with a maximum nine points.