Thitiphan Puangjan scored four minutes before the half-time break to cancel out Ali Mabkhout’s seventh minute opener for Alberto Zaccheroni’s side to ensure the teams shared the points at Al Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in their Group A clash on Monday.

That meant the UAE finished on top with Thailand second ahead of Bahrain thanks to their superior head-to-head record over the West Asians, who claimed a late win over India to also book their place in the Round of 16.

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.

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.

Hassan started the game after only featuring for the final 30 minutes of Qatar’s opening win against Lebanon and was among the scorers as Felix Sanchez’s side notched up a comfortable 6-0 victory over the east Asians.

Almoez Ali netted a record equalling four times while Boualem Khoukhi was also on the scoresheet as Qatar recorded their biggest-ever win at the AFC Asian Cup Finals, but with Saudi Arabia up next and then the Round of 16, Hassan knows the challenges ahead will be significantly greater.

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.

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."

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.