Qatar win; Kuwait, Lebanon draw – Oman, Thais, North Korea move clear in Asia WCup qualifying

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 13, (Agencies): Kuwait National Football Team took a difficult stance in the sixth round of Group G qualifying matches for the World Cup 2018 scheduled to take place in Russia and finals of the Asian Cup 2019 in UAE after a goalless draw with the Lebanese national team at Kuwait Sports Stadium. The Kuwait National Football team failed to score a goal throughout the 90 minutes although it performed well in the first ten minutes. After 15 minutes of play, the Lebanese team started attacking the Kuwaiti team but the latter managed to counter attack. In the final minutes of the match, the Lebanese team nearly scored a goal.

In Doha Qatar won their fifth straight 2018 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday with an unconvincing but ultimately resounding 4-0 win against Maldives in Doha. The final scoreline somewhat flattered the 2022 World Cup hosts who took almost 70 minutes to ensure they maintained their perfect start to qualifying for the finals in Russia in three years time. Regardless of the performance, however, the victory maintained Qatar’s five point cushion at the top of AFC Group C, following Hong Kong’s narrow win in Bhutan earlier.

And it means they now require just two more victories at most to automatically progress from the group into the next round of qualification. Thailand took a huge step towards the next round of the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers after they trounced South-East Asian rivals Vietnam 3-0 in Hanoi on Tuesday.

A first-half strike by Kroekrit Thawikan put the visitors ahead at My Dinh Stadium before an own goal by Dien Tien Thanh and an effort by captain Theerathon Bunmathan sealed a comprehensive win for the visitors who moved five points clear of Iraq at the top of their group.

North Korea also boosted their hopes of advancing to the next round after a 1-0 home win over Yemen while Singapore and Hong Kong claimed narrow wins against Cambodia and Bhutan respectively. The winners of the eight second-round groups and the four best-performing runners-up will advance to the next round and also earn berths at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

North Korea consolidated their position at the top of Group H with a narrow home win over last-placed Yemen in Pyongyang. Jong Il-gwan’s 12th minute penalty proved decisive at Kim Il-sung Stadium as the Chollima moved four points ahead of second-placed Uzbekistan, who have played a game less. Meanwhile, Bahrain down Philippines 2-0 to move 4th of Group H.

Cambodia also remained pointless in Group E after they lost 2-1 at Singapore. The home side took the lead through Faris Ramli after 16 minutes and after Khairul Amri had missed a penalty late in the first half, they extended their advantage when substituted Fazrul Nawaz capitalised on a defensive error two minutes after the interval.

Sos Suhana narrowed the deficit midway through the second half but the Indochinese side were unable to find an equaliser as they suffered their first straight defeat in the group. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Laos moved off the bottom of their groups after picking up the first wins of their campaign. Malaysia won 1-0 at Timor Leste in Group A with a 10th minute strike by Amri Yahyah while Myanmar came from a goal down to beat Laos 3-1 in Group G.

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