With the two teams assured of finishing in the top two spots, Al Jazeera held the relative advantage with 13 points to Kuwait SC’s 10. The hosts needed to better Al Jazeera’s 1-0 victory from the reverse fixture to top the group, while a one-goal-difference victory would also see them through as best runners-up.

Both sides started conservatively, with Kuwait SC the more adventurous of the two. Faisal Zayed tried his luck from distance but missed the target before Shereedah Al Shereedah forced the first save of the match from Al Jazeera goalkeeper Ahmad Abdelsattar 18 minutes in.

Al Wehdat will play Lebanon Al Ahed FC , the Group C winners, in the two-leg semi-finals scheduled for June 17 and 24.

With a two-point advantage over their opponents, Al Wehdat came into the final Group A game needing just a draw to secure a place in the next stage. Only a win could do for Hilal Alquds, while Syria’s Al Jaish hoped for a draw as they faced Nejmeh in the other group game.

The game got on to a pacey start, with Al Wehdat dominating the early proceedings, but with clear-cut chances few and far between.

Al Jaish advanced as the best second-placed team on the fairplay rule after being tied with Kuwait SC on points and goal difference. However, a lower yellow card count took the Syrian side through to a semi-final against Al Jazeera of Jordan, the Group B winners.

Rasyid Bakri celebrated his first start in the tournament with the game's opening goal on the stroke of half-time, before Saldi and Guy Junior added two more after the interval to give Darije Kalezic's side a handsome group stage total of 14 points from six matches.

The Indonesian outfit now march on to the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals, while the competition ends for Lao Toyota, who had been consigned to last place in the group prior to Tuesday's final day of matches.

Abdil Qaiyyim Mutalib added a second in the 18th minute as the Singaporeans notched up a win that takes them into second place in Group H, although Home United’s hopes of advancing to the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals are little more than mathematical.

Both teams had already been eliminated from the competition, with Al Najma sitting third with four points while Al Ittihad had a single point in last place going into Matchday Six. Al Najma had won the reverse fixture 2-1 in Abu Dhabi back in March.

With pressure off, the two sides set out to entertain and indeed the crowd at the Bahrain National Stadium were treated to a fine display of attacking football with chances aplenty at both ends throughout the opening period.

Tajikistan’s FC istiklol, India’s Chennaiyin FC and 4.25 SC of DPR Korea lead the way in Groups D, E and I respectively and further wins would edge them ever closer to the knockout rounds.