With United Arab Emirates and Thailand playing to a 1-1 draw, Bahrain finished third in Group A with their haul of four points confirming them as one of the best four third-placed teams who will advance to the Round of 16.

UAE won the group with five points while Thailand, defeated 4-1 by India on Matchday One, completed an amazing comeback to seal second spot. The Southeast Asians finished above Bahrain based on their head-to-head record, with Thailand having won 1-0 on Matchday Two.

UAE will now meet the best third-placed team from either Group C, D or E while Thailand will meet the runners-up of Group C. Bahrain's reward is a meeting with the winners of either Group B or C.

Ali Mabkhout put Alberto Zaccheroni’s side ahead after seven minutes but Thitiphan Puangjan struck four minutes from time to earn the Thais a point that sees them take second place in Group A, following India’s late loss to Bahrain, thanks to a better head-to-head record.

While the UAE have qualified for the knockout phase for the second tournament in a row, Thailand will be featuring in the next round for the first time since reaching the semi-finals in 1972.

Ebrahim has taken over from Bernd Stange, who was fired following Syria’s 2-0 loss at the hands of Jordan in the second round of matches in Group B, and he is confident he can oversee an immediate upturn in the team’s fortunes when his team take on the Socceroos at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday evening.

“We have our own plans and we don’t feel any fear,” said Ebrahim. “We just feel the spirit of the challenge.

“The positive thing is that I worked with the team during the qualification process, so I'm not a new head coach. I was training the team and I know most of the players, some of them for nearly 10 years, and I worked with them since they were junior players."

With one match still to play, Jordan have already been confirmed as group winners following a flying start to the tournament, one which has seen them record successive wins against Australia and then Syria.

Quarter-finalists in 2004 and 2011, Jordan are set to make a third appearance in an AFC Asian Cup knockout phase, although Borkelmans is adamant that he is looking no further than Tuesday’s encounter at Abu Dhabi’s Al Nahyan Stadium.

The 26-year-old, who has missed his country’s opening two matches at the Continental extravaganza, arrived in the Emirates after playing for club side Tottenham Hotspur in their English Premier League encounter with Manchester United a day earlier.

Goals from Javokhir Sidikov and Jaloliddin Masharipov, as well as a brace from Eldor Shomurodov in the first half, secured the Central Asians a 4-0 win over Turkmenistan on Sunday to send them to the top of the Group F standings on six points.

Up next for Uzbekistan are four-time champions Japan, also on six points, in a top-of the-table clash on Thursday to decide the group winners.

Genki Haraguchi’s first-half penalty helped the Samurai Blue seal a narrow 1-0 win over Oman on Sunday, a result which – along with Uzbekistan’s subsequent defeat of Turkmenistan – saw Japan go through to the Round of 16.

Although happy with his side’s progress thus far, the former Sanfrecce Hiroshima boss was quick to add that there are other nations emerging who he feels also have the potential to become champions of Asia.