Iraq’s second successive victory - having defeated Vietnam 3-2 on Matchday One - meant Srecko Katanec’s team join Islamic Republic of Iran on six points with Wednesday’s clash with Team Melli to determine who finishes at the top of the standings.

Iran defeated Vietnam 2-0 earlier on Saturday. For Yemen, it was their second defeat after having lost 5-0 to Iran in their opener.

At a wonderfully atmospheric Al Nahyan Stadium, two goals from Sardar Azmoun ensured the Iranians made it six points from six – an impressive start to a campaign which has now seen the three-time champions of Asia guarantee their progress to the knockout phase along with Iraq who beat Yemen in the group’s later game.

With one round of matches still to come, Vietnam must beat Yemen to stand any chance of sealing their place in the next round as one of the best third-place finishers.

Sanchez’s side eventually secured a 2-0 win over the West Asian side with goals from Abdulaziz Hatem and Almoez Ali, but they had to wait to break down Miodrag Radulovic’s well-drilled Lebanese side.

The Spanish coach, though, praised his team’s patient approach and has no intention of a different approach when they take on DPR Korea, with victory almost certain to take the Qataris into the next phase of the competition.

Four-time AFC Asian Cup champions Japan raised their game after trailing 1-0 against Turkmenistan at the break but some tweaking by Moriyasu saw a vastly different side in the second half as the Samurai Blue eventually won 3-2.

Oman, having suffered a 2-1 defeat to Uzbekistan in their opener, need a win to keep their hopes alive and head coach Pim Verbeek promised that his team will give it their all at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

China edged towards the Round of 16 with Friday’s 3-0 win over the Philippines, progress which was subsequently assured when Korea Republic beat Kyrgyz Republic 1-0 in Group C’s later game.

The victory was China’s second of the campaign following their Matchday One defeat of Kyrgyz Republic, a run of form that Lippi feels will only serve to inspire the 1984 and 2004 AFC Asian Cup runners-up.

Early goals from Jamie Maclaren and Awer Mabil got the ball rolling for the defending champions, before Apostolos Giannou came off the bench to add a layer of gloss to the scoreline in the final moments.

Australia's showing was a vast improvement from their 1-0 Matchday One defeat to Jordan, with the the inclusion of Chris Ikonomidis and Jackson Irvine paying instant dividends for Arnold's men.

Speaking after the match, Arnold paid tribute to his side, but warned that he expects their performances to become even stronger as the tournament goes on.

Kim Min-jae scored the only goal of a game Bento’s team dominated to ensure the Koreans join China in advancing to the Round of 16 from Group C. The two nations face off on Wednesday with top spot in the group on the line.

“We didn’t make a very good performance but I think that we won the game fairly,” said the Portuguese coach, who has now won five and drawn three of his first eight games in charge of the Taeguk Warriors.

“Even though we didn’t have a good performance we created a lot of opportunities to score and I think that we could have finished the game earlier. But with 1-0 the opponents have the hope to score and until the end we suffered a little bit because we didn’t score the second goal.”