Abramov returns to the head coaching role he previously held from 2010 to 2012, with his first assignment to come in next month’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Asian Qualifiers fixtures.

As well as holding head coaching positions at several of the country’s top clubs, most recently FC Bunyodkor, Abramov guided Uzbekistan to the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals in 2011, their best ever finish at the tournament.

DPR Korea, who defeated Lebanon and Sri Lanka in the Asian Qualifiers, jumped five places to 113th in the world in the FIFA Ranking released on Thursday..

Yemen (137th), Singapore (157th) and Nepal (161st) also improved their respective rankings by five spots.

Bahrain (105), Tajikistan (115) and Mongolia (183) each moved up four spots.

Goals from distance, individual brilliance and solo efforts lit up the opening two rounds of the Asian Qualifiers. the-AFC.com has picked five. Tell us who you think scored the best goal.

The Kuwait FA decision came following “a meeting that was held to discuss the results of the national team in the past two rounds of the preliminary joint qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and AFC Asian Cup China 2023," read a Kuwait FA statement.

It was a run which started in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 as Qatar, en route to lifting the title, defeated Asian giants Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic, United Arab Emirates and Japan.

There were winning starts for Australia, China PR, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and the United Arab Emirates while Saudi Arabia were held to a 2-2 draw by Yemen.

Bangladesh, the final team to open their campaign on Matchday 2, were edged 1-0 by Afghanistan.

The Asian Qualifiers action will resume on October 10 so make sure to stay with the-AFC.com for the latest.

It was a day of high quality action as 32 of the 40 teams involved in this phase of the Asian Qualifiers got their campaigns underway.

The teams now have a four-day break before Matchday 2 on Tuesday, which will see Australia, China PR, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia kicking off their campaigns.