The result meant India and Bangladesh, who drew 0-0 in their match, finished on four points and with an identical goal difference, with Bangladesh also having beaten Sri Lanka.

Their semi-final opponents were decided by a draw, with India declared the Group B winners. Bangladesh will face Group A winners Bhutan in Friday's semi-finals.

The result seals Bhutan's place in the semi-finals and leaves defending champions Nepal on the ropes after they drew 1-1 with Maldives in their tournament opener on Friday.

Bhutan's match against Maldives on Tuesday will decide Nepal's fate.

Bangladesh, the 2017 runners-up, enjoyed a dream start as midfielder Tanbir Hossain gave them the lead after just 35 seconds.

Nepal needed a late equaliser to salvage a point and Maldives, while disappointed to have missed out on the three points, will be boosted by the result ahead of their next match against Bhutan on Monday.

India's progress to the semi-finals now depends on their final group tie against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Bangladesh are already through after defeating Sri Lanka 3-0 in their opening clash on Saturday.

At the AFC Competitions Committee’s first meeting of the 2019-2023 cycle chaired by Dr. Tran Quoc Tuan, they selected Uzbekistan and Bahrain as they were considered to have the most appropriate facilities for age-group football.

The opportunity to assist Uzbekistan’s football development – combined with the availability of the necessary facilities – was considered important while Bahrain, having bid to host both events, achieved the highest evaluation points on the inspection visit for the U-16 event.

The U-19 tournament will be played between October 14 and 31, 2020 while the U-16 Championship will take place between September 16 and October 3, 2020.

The AFC Solidarity Cup, which provides more competitive matches for the bottom 10 ranked countries (the six eliminated in the first round of the Joint Asian Qualifiers and the bottom four teams in the second round) will be played between November 30, 2020 and December 13, 2020 – once the final round of qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 are concluded.

The Committee also agreed with a recommendation that in 2020, the AFC Champions League Round of 16 matches in the West Zone should be moved from May 25/26 and June 15/16 to May 18/19 and May 25/26, 2020.

Beaten 4-2 by UAE just six days prior, Iraq overcame the sending off of Abdulrazzaq Kadah to force the shootout, where they netted four of their five penalties to secure the trophy.

Earlier, Jordan claimed a 3-0 win over host nation Palestine to finish the tournament in third place.