An incredible miss from Lee Jae-sung in the first half aside, chances were few and far between in a match that saw possession dominated by the East Asians, but time and again they failed to breakdown a stalwart Iraqi rear-guard.

Jahanbakhsh broke the deadlock with a deflected strike in the 56th minute, with three points in Group A Team Melli’s reward for breaking down Nizar Mahrous’ side on a night where clear-cut chances were few and far between.

The Iranians will have the chance to make it two wins from two when they face Iraq in Doha on Tuesday, while Syria will have the opportunity to bounce back against the United Arab Emirates in Amman.

UAE, seeking to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals for only the second time, will be disappointed with the result while Lebanon will walk talk after sealing their opening point of the campaign.

Al Sabhi swept home Salah Al Yahyaei’s cross from the right to hand the Japanese their first defeat in nine games in qualifying for Qatar 2022 and leave Hajime Moriyasu and his team on the back foot after Matchday One of the AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to Qatar.

Vietnam took the lead as early as the third minute when Nguyen Quang Hai slotted home from outside the box, but Do Duy Manh's red card in the 54th minute proved most costly as Saudi Arabia mounted a stunning comeback with Salem Al Dawsari and Saleh Al Shehri neatly converting their penalties together with Yasser Al Shahrani's stunning header to secure all three points at the King Saud University Stadium.

Goals from Awer Mabil and Martin Boyle gave Graham Arnold’s side a handsome two-goal lead at the interval before substitute Mitch Duke added a third with 20 minutes remaining.

The win sends Australia to the top of Group B, with a top two finish required to send them to a fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup.

Ronaldo struck two late goals as Portugal came from behind to defeat Ireland 2-1 in their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifier on Wednesday.

Ronaldo had missed a 15th minute penalty but equalised in the 89th minute with a header for his 110th international goal - one more than Daei - before outjumping the Irish defence again in the sixth minute of added time.