Kuwait, who fought back to defeat Bahrain 2-1 in their opener, started with a strong press but were soon overwhelmed by a pacy Afghanistan side, who had the first look at goal with Mehran Gholami shooting wide from distance.

Afghanistan took control of the game and tested Kuwait keeper Mohammad Majeki from distance before opening their account in the second minute with Mahdi slipping a pass to Akbar Kazemi to lay the ball for an unmarked Farzad Mahmoodi to tap in.

Kuwait struggled to find their footing with Majeki making two fine saves in the sixth minute to keep out Gholami’s long-range efforts off set-pieces, while at the other end, Hussain Mohammadi wasted a fine opportunity to level proceedings when he skied his close range effort.

However, Kuwait's patience was finally rewarded in the 11th minute when Saleh Alfadhel timed his pass to perfection, finding Naser Alalban to rifle home the equaliser from just above the arc.

Afghanistan soon found themselves frustrated after goalkeeper Mohammad Safari conceded a free-kick in a dangerous position at the top of the box which led to Omar Almansour squeezing his shot across the goal line from Abdulrahman Altawail's set-piece to put Kuwait ahead.

In an attempt to restore parity, the Central Asian side utilised the power play in the final moments of the half but their strategy was in vain as Kuwait held firm to take a lead going into the break.

Afghanistan came back fighting in the second half and equalised two minutes after the restart with Reza Hossein Poor making quick exchanges with Mohammad Moradi before executing a clinical finish past a rooted Majeki off a corner.

Kuwait immediately responded and regained the lead a minute later when Ahmad Alfarsi gained possession on the left flank before cutting through the defence to set up Alfadhel, whose shot deflected off Sayed Husseini and into the back of the net.

Afghanistan, however, were given a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty following a foul on Sulaiman Alomran, with Reza Hossein Poor making no mistake from the spot to put the score at 3-3 just before the half-hour mark. 

Afghanistan came close to taking the lead in the 33rd minute but Altawail was at the right place at the right time to clear Reza Hossein Poor lob from outside the box as the points were shared.