The winner of Wednesday’s encounter will become the first side from their country to progress to the final, where they will meet defending champions Air Force Club of Iraq or Jordan’s Al Jazeera in late October.

The pacey forward was one of the main reasons the Ashgabat club advanced to the knockout rounds for the first time, after falling short in both 2016 and 2017, and he will be key if Altyn Asyr are to defeat DPR Korea’s 4.25 SC over two legs.

Annadurdyyev is three goals behind the competition’s top scorer, An Il-bom of 4.25, and should Altyn Asyr overcome the Pyongyang team, then the 25-year-old may find himself in the position to finish as the leading marksman in a campaign that has been dominated by the continent’s strikers.

The Ashgabat-based club were crowned Central Asia Zonal champions after Mihail Titow’s 97th-minute goal in May ousted Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol to book a date with India’s JSW Bengaluru, who Istiklol eliminated in last year’s competition en route to their second appearance in the final.

With Central Asian sides having been represented in the AFC Cup in every edition but one since the inaugural tournament in 2004, the-AFC.com looks back at how its sides have performed over the years as Altyn Asyr look to continue the region’s recent upward trajectory.

The AFC's third club competition became defunct after the 2014 edition, with clubs from nations that previously participated in the President's Cup now offered the chance to compete in the AFC Cup.

The last-ever AFC President's Cup match brought together Turkmenistan's FC HTTU head-to-head with DPR Korea's Rimyongsu in the 2014 final held in Sri Lanka's biggest city, Colombo. Four years on, teams from the two countries are vying for a place in the AFC Cup final.

Hammadi Ahmed's fifth goal of the campaign was enough for Air Force Club to edge Al Jazeera in a tightly contested affair in Amman a fortnight ago, a draw in Karbala will be enough to take Basim Qasim's men into their third consecutive final.

With five titles and eight final appearances combined, clubs from Jordan and Iraq have a rich history in the AFC Cup, including some memorable match-ups.

In 18 head-to-head encounters, Iraqi clubs hold a slight advantage, winning seven to the Jordanian’s five, while six games ended level.

Both sides went unbeaten through the first half of the campaign, progressing together from Group A and dispatching their opponents in the Zonal Semi-Finals to set up a rematch in the West Asia Zonal Final.

Nevertheless, Air Force Club and Al Jazeera found themselves on the lookout for new head coaches come June. And have banked on their AFC Cup experience to carry them through the next rounds.