Iraq were the last team in the group to resume their campaign, with their rivals having played four days ago, and the West Asians hit the ground running as they reclaimed top spot with the win, with Islamic Republic of Iran and Bahrain to meet later on Monday.

Mardak Mardikian scored twice in the opening nine minutes and Mahmoud Al Mawas added a late third to maintain the Syrians’ perfect record with seven wins from seven games, meaning neither second-placed China PR or the Philippines can supplant them at the top of the table.

Victory also means Nabil Maloul’s team have booked their place among the 24 teams who will at the Finals of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

The hosts took the lead after just five minutes, Miki Yamane’s incisive through ball met the run of Takuma Asano and when his attempt was charged down by a flying Rustam Yatimov, the ball broke only as far as Kyogo Furuhashi who fired into an empty net.

Japan’s advantage lasted just three minutes as a fine cross from Manucher Safarov reached the head of Ehson Panshanbe and he re-directed the ball smartly home past goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda.

The result is a setback for Kyrgyz Republic who missed out on the chance to go level on points with regional rivals Tajikistan in second and saw Mongolia avenge their 2-1 defeat in the first meeting between the sides in October 2019.

Sunil Chhetri struck twice in the closing minutes as India boosted their hopes of sealing a place in the third round of the Asian Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023, with the India captain taking his tally to 74 international goals – above Argentina's Lionel Messi and one off entering world football’s all-time top 10.

Salem Al Dawsari opened the scoring for his country and Fahad Al Muwallad followed up with a first-half brace as the game was put to bed before the break. Unlike in their 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture, Yemen were unable to pose any serious threat throughout Saturday’s fixture.

With Lebanon defeating Sri Lanka earlier in the day, the pressure was on Korea Republic to produce at Goyang Stadium but the result never seemed in doubt from the moment Hwang – who arrived in his homeland on the back of a strong season with Bordeaux – headed the hosts in front in the ninth minute.

Despite their dominance it took until the stroke of half-time for Nam Tae-hee to add a second before goals from Kim Young-gwon, Kwon Chang-hoon and a cheeky second from Hwang rounded off a win that took the Koreans back to the Group H summit.