With Lebanon defeating Sri Lanka earlier in the day, the pressure was on Korea Republic to produce at Goyang Stadium but the result never seemed in doubt from the moment Hwang – who arrived in his homeland on the back of a strong season with Bordeaux – headed the hosts in front in the ninth minute.

Despite their dominance it took until the stroke of half-time for Nam Tae-hee to add a second before goals from Kim Young-gwon, Kwon Chang-hoon and a cheeky second from Hwang rounded off a win that took the Koreans back to the Group H summit.

The Cedars went into the game level on points with Group H leaders Korea Republic and knowing a win could secure a top-two finish, but were dealt a blow when they fell behind to Waseem Razeek's early goal.

Lebanon's response was swift, however, and they went into the interval 3-1 up after Joan Oumari bagged a brace and Mohamad Kdouh also netted. Sri Lanka pulled one back through Razeek's penalty just after the hour, but the West Asians held out to move onto 10 points from four matches.

The hosts took an early lead through Hwang Ui-jo before dominating proceedings, but they only managed to add a second in first-half stoppage time through Nam Tae-hee.

Kim Young-gwon made it three as the hour approached before a deserved goal from Kwon Chang-hoon and a second from Hwang rounded off the scoring as Korea Republic posted a resounding win to delight those in attendance at Goyang Stadium.

An entertaining opening half at Goyang Stadium saw Sri Lanka go in front through Waseem Razeek before Lebanon replied immediately after with goals from Joan Oumari and Mohamad Kdouh, and then took a 3-1 lead into the interval when Oumari added his second on the stroke of half-time.

Razeek netted from the spot just after the hour to pull Sri Lanka back into the game but they were unable to complete the comeback for their first point in Group H as Lebanon survived a scare to pick up the victory.

Saudi Arabia went into this game looking for a third consecutive win to further consolidate their grip at the top of the group, and they duly delivered in expert fashion as the game was put to bed in the first half with relative ease.

Mahmoud Al Mawas scored a hat-trick – which included two penalties – as the Syrians notched up their sixth win in a row in Group A to stand eight points clear of second-placed China PR.

That result means a win over Guam on Monday in Sharjah will be enough to qualify the Syrians for the next phase of the preliminaries and also earn them a berth at the Finals of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Singapore went into their tie against at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh targeting three points but were left undone by a 10-minute blitz in the first half which left them trailing 3-0, with Palestine adding a fourth five minutes from time.

The win saw Palestine leapfrog Singapore into third place on goal difference with both on seven points. Saudi Arabia lead with 11 points, Uzbekistan are two behind, while Yemen are bottom with five points.