Against IR Iran, goals from twins Amiruddin Bagus Alfikri (fourth minute) and Amiruddin Bagas Arrizqi (90th) secured the three points and having beaten one of the Continent’s biggest teams, Indonesia believe they can enjoy a successful tournament.

Bagus Alfikri admitted that the Central Asians were formidable foes.

With a partisan crowd cheering their team on, Indonesia went ahead in the fourth minute when Mochammad Supriadi broke free on the left flank and laid off a square pass to Amiruddin Bagus Alfikri, who had the easiest of finishes to put Indonesia in front.

A minute later, IR Iran came close to equalising with Mahdi Seyedi's glancing header but Indonesia goalkeeper Ernando Ari Sutaryadi kept a cool head to make the save.

IR Iran found it hard to break down their opponents as Indonesia operated as a tight unit and were adept at defending.

Boosted by the advantage, Indonesia controlled the pace of the match and were comfortable keeping possession as they came close to doubling their advantage in the 24th minute but Amanar Abdillah pulled his shot just wide off the left post.

In a tightly contested affair, Vietnam started the match strongly as they fought for early possession against an Indian side who had stayed unbeaten in the qualifiers. But the Southeast Asians soon found themselves under pressure as India pushed forward.

Gurkirat Singh found space down the left and delivered a perfect cross to Vikram Partap, who timed his run perfectly as he skipped past his marker in the box but his finishing was tame as it sailed past the goalmouth in the fifth minute.

Vietnam, unfazed by India’s persistence, surged forward in the 12th minute as Dinh Thanh Trung made his way on the right and passed it square to Khuat Van Khang, who fired straight into the arms of India goalkeeper Niraj Kumar.

Malaysia, who were playing without first choice goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel who had been red carded in their match against Tajikistan on Thursday, suffered an early blow when Harith Haiqal Adam’s poor back pass allowed Thailand’s Suphanat Mueanta to latch on to the loose ball before beating Abdul Alim Al Amri to take a third minute lead.

Thailand’s lead, however, lasted less than 10 minutes when Muhamad Alif Bin Mutalib launched a long-range pass from near the half-line mark that found Luqman Hakim Shamsudin in the box and the livewire - who scored four in the tie against Tajikistan - headed the ball over custodian Anuchid Taweesri in the 12th minute.

Iraq took a fourth minute lead through Hussein Sadeq’s strike, but tournament debutants Afghanistan recovered almost immediately to score the equaliser a minute later with Ali Zahidi finding the back of the net.

In the 14th minute, Iraq were awarded a penalty when Al Jasim Elaibi was brought down in the box, and Qasim stepped up to convert the spot-kick which was eventually the winning goal, sending their travelling fans into a frenzy.

“I always wish to score goals and I have thought about the way I would do my celebration, but the goal I scored from the penalty spot helped my team to win and harvest the three points, and that’s the important factor,” said Qasim. “It isn’t what I gave to myself but what I gave to my team.”

Choi opened the scoring in the 43rd minute to give Korea Republic the lead going into the break, while Hong Yun-sang doubled their advantage in the 52nd minute before Choi scored his second goal of the night in the 68th to seal the win.

“It’s great to win three points, I’m happy for myself and the team as well,” the 16-year-old midfielder told the-AFC.com. “In general, we are happy with the win and the performance.

“In terms of improvement, we should have more concentration in defence, as I think there were times where we made some simple mistakes. So if we improve on that, it would be okay. We just need to recover well and prepare for the next game.”

DPR Korea took the lead through Kim Kang-song’s 20th minute strike, before Ahmad Semreen leveled the scores 11 minutes later but Jordan trailed again going into the break with Kang-song’s 45th minute goal.

Jordan eventually equalised in the second half with Amer Rasem Adel Jamous finding the back of the net in the 75th minute.