Qatar maintained their unbeaten qualification record for the 2018 World Cup on Thursday with a 2-0 victory which ended Hong Kong’s participation in the tournament.
A goal in either half in Doha — from Qatar’s skipper Hasan al-Haydos and Sebastian Suria — ensured Qatar’s seventh win in seven games in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Group C.
Qatar, along with South Korea, are the only two sides with a perfect record in the second round of AFC qualification games.
The Gulf country, which will host the 2022 World Cup, had already ensured progression to the third round of qualifying which will see 12 of Asia’s biggest teams qualify for four spots at Russia in two years’ time.
Qatar is aiming to qualify for their first World Cup.
The deadlock was broken in the 20th minute, when al-Haydos fired in a right-foot shot from the edge of the goal area.
There were very few chances in the rest of the first half, but the game opened up in the second half as Hong Kong committed more players to attack to try and secure an unlikely victory to keep their faint qualification hopes alive. It never looked likely.
Instead, al-Haydos and fellow midfielder Rodrigo Taba, who struck a post, almost added a second for Qatar before Suria slotted home from close range in the 86th minute to secure victory for the home side.
The result was never in doubt as Hong Kong barely threatened, with substitute Alexander Oluwatayo’s second-half shot easily saved by Qatar’s Amine Lecomte, the closest they came to scoring.
It was a tame end for Hong Kong, who had enjoyed a decent qualification campaign, avoiding defeat to rivals China twice and only losing to Qatar in their eight games.
Elsewhere, former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp made a successful debut as coach of Jordan with an 8-0 victory over Bangladesh on Thursday.
Redknapp, whose last management role was at Queens Park Rangers, has signed a short-term contract with Jordan.
Jordan next face Australia in Sydney on Tuesday in what is scheduled to be his second and final match with the team.
“I have been very impressed at training with the quality of the Jordan players,” Redknapp said. “Australia will be a tough game, but we look forward to it.”
Australia are two points clear of Jordan at the top of Group B after six wins in seven matches. A win or draw on Tuesday will clinch first place for Australia in the group.
Saudi Arabia moved three points clear of the United Arab Emirates in Group A when they beat Malaysia 2-0 at Jeddah, while the UAE kept pace with a 2-0 win over Palestine. The teams meet at Jeddah on Tuesday in the final match of the second round.
Jiang Ning scored three goals to power China past the Maldives 4-0 in Group C. China were seven points behind leader Qatar.
Iran beat India 4-0 to remain three points ahead in Group D, while second-placed Oman edged Guam 1-0.
In Group E, Syria beat Cambodia 6-0. Japan host Syria on Tuesday at Saitama, north of Tokyo.
Thailand clinched first place in Group F after a 2-2 draw with Iraq.
Uzbekistan beat the Philippines 1-0 at Tashkent to move two points ahead of idle North Korea in Group H. Uzbekistan play again at home on Tuesday against Bahrain, while North Korea play the Philippines.
The eight group winners and four best runners-up from the second round qualify for the third Asian round.
The teams will be divided into two six-team groups and take part in home-and-away series from August this year to September next year, with the top two in each group qualifying for Russia in 2018.
A fifth Asian team — the winner of a match between the third-placed teams in the third round — could qualify for Russia via an intercontinental playoff with a CONCACAF team.
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