Paulo Bento’s charges claimed a 1-0 win over China PR in the men’s competition, while the Korea Republic women's team ended a nine-month winless streak with a convincing 3-0 victory over Chinese Taipei, with both tournaments now set to be decided by Korea Republic-Japan clashes in midweek.

A Mana Iwabuchi hat-trick helped the Nadeshiko to a 3-0 win over China PR in the women’s tournament, while Hajime Moriyasu’s men’s side proved far too strong for Hong Kong in a 5-0 success.

Late goals in either half helped Paulo Bento’s side to a 2-0 win over Hong Kong, while Asako Takakura’s Nadeshiko showed why they are Asian champions with a 9-0 victory.

J1 League pair Musashi Suzuki and Genta Miura found the back of the net for Hajime Moriyasu’s side, who became the only team to finish the tournament’s opening day with a perfect three points.

The East Asian regional competition, which features men’s and women’s championships played concurrently, will continue on a round-robin basis until next Wednesday.

IR Iran dropped to second at 33 following their recent defeat to Iraq in the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Japan - who are unbeaten in the Asian Qualifiers - maintained their World Ranking at 28.

Australia beat Chile twice in November in international friendlies to climb up to seventh, while Japan - unchanged at 10th place - became Asia's second ranked team after DPR Korea dropped two spots to 11th.

Qualifying action for the two premier competitions will resume on March 26 as the players - depending on where they play their club football - either return to their teams or get some much needed break.

Join the-AFC.com as we take a look at five talking points at this stage of a thrilling Asian Qualifiers.