SAUDI ARABIA 6-0 MALDIVES

Saudi Arabia made light work of their opening match on the road to the Finals, finishing Matchday One ahead of UAE on goal difference after a comprehensive 6-0 win over Maldives.

OMAN 1-0 NEPAL

While an early goal from Al Malki proved decisive, Oman squandered a number of chances to extend their lead, particularly in a dominant second half display.

The Omanis came into the tie as warm favourites, and took the lead when an overlapping Al Malki found space on the left hand side before beating Nepal goalkeeper Arpan Karki with an accurate low finish on 13 minutes.

PALESTINE 9-0 SRI LANKA

Four goals in the opening half-hour paved the way to three points for Ayman Sandouqa's side, who made the most of their dominance to pile on another five after half-time.

Aiming to return to the Continental Finals after reaching the last eight in China in 2018, Palestine wasted no time in getting their 2020 campaign up and running, with Mahmoud Aliwisat opening the scoring in the seventh minute, before Yousef Emghamis added a second three minutes later.

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN 3-1 TURKMENISTAN

A first half own-goal proved to be costly for Turkmenistan, as Iran turned on the power in the second half at the Azadi Stadium.

SYRIA 2-0 KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Syria's bid to reach the Finals began in successful style, as they registered a 2-0 win over Kyrgyz Republic in their opening qualifying fixture on Friday.

Late goals in each half proved decisive for Syria, whose win gives them a fighting chance of continuing their proud record of never having failed to qualify for the continental finals at this age level.

In a competitive battle at Kuwait City's Jaber Al Hamad Stadium, both sides looked for an edge, but it took until the 39th minute for either to find a breakthrough, with Abd Barakat punishing Kyrgyz Republic's failure to clear to ball to make it 1-0 at half-time.

Uzbekistan came into the match with the advantage of playing at home, but the fresh U-23 squad had the pressure to impress in defending their title against a resilient Indian side.

India, who are aiming to make their debut in the Finals, held Uzbekistan back in the opening minutes of the match.

They defended well but as the game looked set to be goalless at the break, a mistake in the box proved to be costly as Uzbekistan were awarded a penalty kick in the 45th minute, with Islomjon Kobilov making no mistake from the spot to break the deadlock.

DPR KOREA 1-0 MONGOLIA

The all-East Asian affair began on a high note as both sides pulled out all the stops for an early advantage.