Iran will play Japan in Thursday's semi-final after the East Asians defeated 2017 runners-up Iraq in their last eight tie earlier on Tuesday.

The other semi-final will see Indonesia taking on Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, who have stated their aim is to emerge champions, will play Indonesia in the semi-finals on Thursday.

The match was expected to be a cracker as Afghanistan and Thailand were impressive en route to the knockout stage but it was the Southeast Asians who started the brighter and tested goalkeeper Mohammad Javad Safari in the opening minute.

Japan will face the winners of the Islamic Republic of Iran or Lebanon in Thursday's semi-finals.

The tie was a repeat of the 2017 quarter-final, where Iraq emerged victors, but this was a different Japanese side and the match began as expected, with both teams applying heavy pressure from the start. 

Iraq’s Al Muwafaq Al Rubaye had the first real chance of the game in the second minute when he let loose a strike from distance but failed to keep his shot down, before Japan had their own opportunity a minute later after Osawa Masashi intercepted a back pass, but he too missed by inches.

Indonesia will face the winners of the Thailand-Afghanistan tie, who play later on Tuesday, in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Indonesian goalkeeper Ahmad Habiebie returned between the posts after serving a one-match ban, but was hardly called into action in the opening minutes as the young Garuda held the lion’s share of possession, but struggled to beat Vietnam custodian Nguyen Tang Dinh.

Vietnam, who were alert in defence, kept Indonesia at bay but an error by Dao Cong Hoang in the seventh minute almost gave their Southeast Asian rivals a head start when Mohammad Afif Rizky dispossessed Cong Hoang in the final third, but Tang Dinh was alert to thwart the danger.

Match Highlights and its Reports can be found below.

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Group winners: IR Iran, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia

Group runners-up: Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Vietnam

The East Asians campaign ended on Saturday after they fell to a 6-3 defeat to Indonesia, having lost their Group D opener to Iraq 5-2 on Friday but Chen said the experience would help his team develop their budding futsal careers.

Hong Kong entered the Finals as a replacement for Saudi Arabia following their withdrawal from the tournament, and many would have assumed defending champions IR Iran would cruise to an easy victory, but Chan Fei Tat’s side displayed exemplary fighting spirit.