Football
ESPN staff 8y

North Korea, Qatar win to stay in first place in World Cup qualifying groups

North Korea, Qatar, Thailand and Jordan all won on Tuesday to maintain their group leads in the second round of Asian qualifying for the World Cup.

Jong Il Gwan's 12th-minute penalty gave North Korea a 1-0 win over Yemen in Group H.

The North Koreans opened a four-point lead over Uzbekistan, who have a game in hand.

In the other Group H game, Ismail Abdul-Latif and Sayed Adnan both scored early in the second half to give Bahrain their second win in qualifying, 2-0 at home against the Philippines.

Qatar cruised to a 4-0 win at home against Maldives as the 2022 World Cup hosts continue to enjoy a five-point lead in Group C.

Boualem Khoukhi scored twice, and Qatar also received goals from Mohammed Kasola and Mohammed Musa.

Hong Kong kept pace with a 1-0 win over minnows Bhutan, though they were made to wait until Siu Ki Chan's 89th-minute winner.

In Group F, Thailand beat Vietnam 3-0 at Hanoi to move five points clear of Iraq, who have played a game less.

Kroekrit Thaweekarn scored in the 29th minute, an own goal 10 minutes after the break by Dinh Tien Thanh made it 2-0, and captain Theeraton Bunmathan added a third in the 70th minute.

Jordan maintained their lead in Group B with a 3-0 win at home over Tajikistan, Hamza Aldaradreh recording a brace and Hasan Abdel Fattah also scoring.

Kyrgyzstan stayed in the Group B hunt with a 2-0 win at home over Bangladesh thanks to goals from Vitalij Lux and Ildar Amirov.

Oman opened a three-point lead in Group D with a 3-0 win at India, who have lost all five of their qualifiers so far.

Abdul Aziz Al Muqbali scored twice following Ahmed Al Mahajri's opener 10 minutes after half-time.

After a flying start to their campaign, Guam stuttered again in a 1-0 loss at Turkmenistan, Guvanch Abylov scoring the only goal in the 16th minute.

Despite playing all of the home games in Oman, Syria took the lead in Group E with a 5-2 win over Afghanistan as Osama Omari scored a hat trick and Mahmoud Al Mawas scored two more.

Afghanistan had cut Syria's lead to 3-2 by the 78th minute through goals from Norlla Amiri and Faysal Shayesteh.

Singapore won their third game of the campaign with a 2-1 victory at Cambodia after Faris Ramli and Fazrul Nawaz scored.

Kuwait missed a chance to overtake South Korea for first place in Group G following a goalless draw at home with Lebanon.

In the other game in Group G, Myanmar defeated Laos 3-1 with goals by Lam Mang Suan, Ko Ko Kyaw and Aung Thu.

Mohd Amri Yahyah scored Malaysia earned their first win of the campaign with a 1-0 victory at winless Timor-Leste in Group A.

The eight group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the last round of Asian qualifying.

Asian giants Australia, Japan, South Korea, Iran and China were among the teams not playing on Tuesday.

^ Back to Top ^