Mitchell Duke scored twice, while Harry Souttar, Jamie Maclaren and Trent Sainsbury all got on the scoresheet for Graham Arnold’s side, who made it six wins from six to maintain their five-point advantage over second placed Jordan with two matches remaining

Chinese Taipei managed a second half goal through Gao Wei-jie, but it was scant consolation on a night where their seventh successive Asian Qualifiers defeat confirmed they will finish last in Group B.

The Jordanian striker opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 24th minute and added a superb free-kick shortly after half-time, before Yazan Al Arab headed home a third as Vital Borkelmans’ side leapfrogged Kuwait in the race to reach the Third Round.

Nepal’s fifth defeat in seven outings means the South Asian side can no longer finish higher than fourth, bringing their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification hopes to an end.

The three points saw Iran leapfrog Bahrain into second place on 12 points, two behind Iraq with both sides having two matches remaining. The defeat was a blow for Bahrain, who are third with just one game remaining in the race to advance to the third round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Uzbekistan went into the game knowing any result other than a win would curtail their chances of finishing top of the group as they sat five points behind leaders Saudi Arabia.

Sunil Chhetri struck twice in the closing minutes as India boosted their hopes of sealing a place in the third round of the Asian Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023, with the India captain taking his tally to 74 international goals – above Argentina's Lionel Messi and one off entering world football’s all-time top 10.

The hosts took the lead after just five minutes, Miki Yamane’s incisive through ball met the run of Takuma Asano and when his attempt was charged down by a flying Rustam Yatimov, the ball broke only as far as Kyogo Furuhashi who fired into an empty net.

Japan’s advantage lasted just three minutes as a fine cross from Manucher Safarov reached the head of Ehson Panshanbe and he re-directed the ball smartly home past goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda.

With Malaysia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates all on nine points, Vietnam needed a win to further tighten their grip on the top of the group against Indonesia who have been knocked out of the reckoning for FIFA World Cup qualification, and coach Park Hang-seo's men duly delivered with an attacking masterclass.