Tears are sure to flow when Sunil Chhetri takes to the pitch for India's Group A tie against Kuwait with the talisman having announced that it will be his last match for The Blue Tigers.

India's most prolific scorer, the 39-year-old has been the face of the national team for almost 15 years with his 94 international goals making him the third-highest active international goal scorer after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Indian fans will be willing to Chhetri to not only score but power the South Asian side to a win they desperately need to boost their hopes of advancing to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the first time.

Indonesia won many hearts with their battling performances in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ and AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ and back-to-back wins over Vietnam in March has left them well placed to advance to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The victories against Southeast Asian rivals Vietnam mean that three points against already qualified Iraq will seal progression and their fans will expect an Indonesian triumph at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium to confirm progression with a match to spare.

Powerhouses Australia and Japan are two victories away from completing the second round of the joint qualifiers with a perfect record, with both having registered four wins each.

Doing so would mean completing a second successive qualifying campaign with a perfect record, with both teams having registered eight wins at the same stage for Qatar 2022.

Kim Do-hoon will be the third head coach to take charge of Korea Republic in the second round as the East Asian side look to qualify for an 11th successive FIFA World Cup.

Jurgen Klinsmann led Korea Republic to wins in their opening two fixtures before departing, with interim head coach Hwang Sun-hong overseeing a draw and a victory against Thailand in March.

Kim now has the task of confirming Korea's Republic's third round berth, with Son Heung-min and his teammates only needing a point from their remaining two matches to close in on a 12th appearance at the FIFA World Cup.

Having made their AFC Asian Cup Finals' debut in 2015, Palestine advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time at Qatar 2023.

The West Asian side are now well-placed to book a spot in the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the first time, needing to avoid defeat against Lebanon on Thursday to cap what has been a stellar campaign for them.

Almoez Ali will not get a chance to add to his tally of seven goals, with Qatar opting to rest the striker, along with Akram Afif and several other key players, for the final two matchdays.

This gives the likes of Japan's Ayase Ueda, Son Heung-min of Korea Republic, China PR's Wu Lei and Mousa Al Tamari of Jordan - who are all on five goals - a chance to overtake Ali.