With one game each still to play, the result sees Saudi Arabia move to four points following their impressive defeat of Japan on Matchday One, with Qatar – in the wake of their draw with Syria – two points adrift of their regional rivals.

Saudi Arabia complete their group stage fixtures on Wednesday when they face Syria, while Qatar will tackle Japan on the same day.

First half goals from Lee Dong-jun and Cho Gue-sung gave Kim Hak-bum’s side a two-goal half-time buffer, but Reza Shekari’s effort nine minutes after the interval meant the Koreans had to negotiate a difficult period in order to extend their winning start to the competition.

Their perfect tally of six points from two matches means they are sure to advance to the knockout stage no matter what happens in Wednesday’s match against Uzbekistan, while Iran’s hopes of ending a 44-year Olympic qualification drought now weighs heavily on their final group stage fixture against China PR.

Jordan got their campaign underway with a 2-1 victory over DPR Korea on Friday, thanks to strikes from Mohammed Bani Atieh and Omar Hani. Meanwhile, Vietnam were held to a goalless draw by the UAE on the same day.

The defending champions were held to a 1-1 draw in their opening match, and with a final group stage clash against a strong Korea Republic outfit still to come, there will be little room for error when they meet a Chinese side chasing their first points of the competition.

While Drulovic believes his side is capable of challenging any team in Thailand, he knows a win on Sunday would make for a much easier path to the last 16 and believes there is no reason why his side can’t be successful against Hao Wei’s side.

Perth Glory striker Nicholas D'Agostino was on hand to score either side of half-time as Australia followed up their opening day draw against Iraq with a priceless three-point haul that has moved them to the top of the Group A standings.

Mohamed Qasim rescued his side for the second game in a row as he came off the bench to score an added time equaliser to ensure the Iraqis go into their final game against Thailand on Tuesday knowing a win over the hosts will take them through to the quarter-finals.

Before Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rewired football’s statistical parameters in the 2010s, a player scoring 50 goals in a single season was usually confined to comic books and computer games, except in the case of Mario Jardel.