With Qatar having sealed top spot in Group E with an unassailable 22 points, Oman's hopes depend on them finishing as one of the best five runners-up and Branko Ivankovic's men saw off an Afghanistan side who will now have to defeat India in their final match on Tuesday to finish third and book a spot in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Oman, with second place confirmed, play bottom-placed Bangladesh in their final game.

Liu Binbin and Wu Lei gave their team a two-goal half-time lead before A Lan, Zhang Yuning and Tan Long completed a comfortable night’s work for a Chinese squad attempting to keep the country’s hopes of FIFA World Cup qualification alive.

The win moves China PR onto 16 points from their seven games so far and their third victory in a row means they go into their final match against group winners Syria on Tuesday with significant momentum. The result also guarantees the Philippines finish third in the group.

The five runners-up with the best records will join seven of the eight group winners – FIFA World Cup hosts Qatar will not feature in the final round despite finishing on top of Group E - in the next phase.

Guirado struck after 12 minutes while Guam’s Marcus Lopez put the ball in his own net on the hour mark to help the Philippines to their third win in seven games. Hartmann netted the third with less than three minutes remaining.

With Maldives losing 5-0 to China PR in the second Group A match on Friday, third spot assures the Azkals a place in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Mathew Leckie, Fran Karacic, Martin Boyle were on target for Graham Arnold’s side as they made it seven wins out of seven to book their spot in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and berth in the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals.

Nepal, meanwhile, ended their campaign in fourth with six points.

The victory sees Kyrgyz Republic leapfrog their Central Asian neighbours Tajikistan on goal difference, while Myanmar drop to bottom in the standings behind Mongolia, ahead of the vital final round of fixtures to come on Tuesday.

The two teams came into this game on the back of entirely opposing fortunes: Malaysia lost their last match 4-0 against the United Arab Emirates, while Vietnam beat Indonesia 4-0 and cemented their strong position with a win, also avoiding loss so far since the Qualifiers began.