Mauricinho made his 100th appearance for Brazil in style by scoring a hat-trick while Oman had their moments to savour as well in the Group D tie at the Los Pynandi Stadium in Asuncion.

Belarus dominated the Group C match at the Los Pynandi Stadium in Asuncion from the start, with Illia Savich creating history by becoming the first player from the East European nation to score in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Finals.

Both sides played a patient game and neither was able to break the stalemate in the first period.

That changed 48 seconds into the second period as Masanori Okuyama broke the deadlock in style, before Ozu Moreira doubled Asian champions Japan's lead in the 16th minute.

The Asian trio are part of a 16-strong field in the battle for sand supremacy, which will be held in a landlocked country for the first time in history.

Ahead of Thursday’s kick-off, which includes a blockbuster opening night encounter between hosts Paraguay and Asian champions Japan, the-AFC.com tells you all you need to know about the Continent’s contenders.

Hilal's men had been 2-0 down with just eight minutes remaining in the all-important play-off for third at the AFC Beach Soccer Championship Thailand 2019, but two goals in three minutes from Al Bulushi took the match to penalties, where Oman prevailed 2-1.

"Now I can breathe," said the Omani head coach, who guided the West Asians to the Finals in 2011 and 2015.

"It was not an easy game. As I have said, I respect any team, and the game was tough. There was only chance if you wanted to go to the World Cup, and today was the chance for two teams."

Ozu was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while his nine goal-haul in Japan's six matches also saw the towering star claim the Top Goal Scorer Award, one ahead of teammate Shusei Yamauchi.

The dual awards are the latest in a long line of accolades for the Brazilian-born Ozu, who has been voted one of the world's 'Top Five' at the Beach Soccer Stars Awards for four of the last five calendar years.

He was also voted best player in the 2013 and 2015 editions of the Asian Beach Soccer Championship, which were staged before the tournament came under the AFC's umbrella.

Takaaki Oba was the man who slammed home the winning penalty, after Masuyaki Komaki and Ozu Moreira scored Japan's goals during a gripping and high-quality decider.

UAE valiantly fought back from 2-0 down thanks to two goals in two minutes from Ali Mohammad, but the West Asians couldn't find a third, meaning the match was decided by spot-kicks.

Both sides will represent Asia at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Paraguay, along with Oman, who won the third place play-off earlier in the day.