It was both teams' first step towards the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 but at the end of 90 minutes, strikes by Oday Dabbagh and Islam Batran meant Palestine head coach Noureddine Ould Ali sported a broad smile while Uzbekistan counterpart Hector Cuper was left to ponder on what could have been.

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.

Uzbekistan had been the favourites going into the Group D match but Palestine made full use of home ground advantage to secure a vital three points.

On a night of high drama at the Singapore National Stadium, Faris struck to ensure his side a point after Yemen’s Abdulwasea Al Matari and Mohsen Hasan had replied to Ikhsan Fandi’s early goal for the hosts.

Under the watchful gaze of recently installed head coach Tatsuma Yoshida, Singapore began brightly with Yemen goalkeeper Salem Saeed reacting superbly to keep out captain Hariss Harun’s seventh minute drive.

With Singapore continuing to dominate, Saeed was forced into action once again shortly after, this time denying Faris with yet another excellent stop.

Nishino’s first game in charge was a battle between fierce regional rivals, but neither could conjure a breakthrough goal at Thammasat Stadium, stretching Thailand’s winless run on home soil to five matches.

The Changsuek had won both encounters against Vietnam during the same round of qualifying in 2015, but, despite their inability to repeat that success on home soil, Nishino said the stalemate is a result from which his side can grow.

Syria had come into the Group A tie after a difficult 2019 WAFF Championship and the Philippines had been confident of taking the three points in a meeting between two teams who had been part of the cast at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 earlier this year.

Instead, it was the West Asians who took full points as they recovered from going behind in the sixth minute to power past the Philippines.

Maldives dominated the early proceedings and went ahead just before the half-hour mark at the GFA Stadium through Ibrahim Mahudhee's strike.

Guam, who overcame a one-goal first leg deficit to defeat Bhutan 5-1 in the first round of the Asian Qualifiers, could not find their way back into game in the second half as Maldives secured three valuable points.