It was the team enjoying a rest day, Iraq, who benefitted most from the two results, retaining their status as Group A leaders while holding a game in hand on both Palestine and Lebanon.

Both of Monday’s goals came in the earlier match between Syria and Yemen, where evergreen forward Firas Al Khatib scored a second-half equaliser to cancel out Yemen’s opener.

A 1-0 opening match win against Yemen in Group A was followed up by a late 2-1 defeat to hosts Iraq on Friday in a mixed start to the regional championship, giving the Palestinians little room for error if they are to advance to the final on August 14.

But even if Palestine’s WAFF Championship tilt ends at the group stage, Ould Ali sees the competition as important preparation for the crucial Asian Qualifiers to come.

SAUDI ARABIA 1-2 KUWAIT

Kuwait, champions in 2010, recovered from a slow start to take a successful first step in this year’s edition, coming from behind to beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in an entertaining clash at Frasno Hariri Stadium.

The Kuwaitis emerged victorious in a match which produced three goals, two penalties and a late red card to secure their first international win of 2019, and continue their perfect record in WAFF Championship opening matches

PALESTINE 1-2 IRAQ

Iraq continued their perfect start to their home championship, recovering from the concession of an early Islam Batran spot-kick to eventually prevail 2-1 at Karbala Sports City.

The Frenchman joined the Green Falcons ahead of their imminent FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Asian Qualifiers campaign, which begins in early September.

Renard - who became the first coach in history to win the Africa Cup of Nations title with two different nations when he led Zambia to glory in 2012 and succeeded again with Côte d’Ivoire three years later – was appointed following his resignation as Morocco national team head coach last month.

The Central Asian nation will face Korea Republic, Lebanon and DPR Korea – all of whom qualified for AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 – in Group H, as well as Sri Lanka: the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition at 201st in the world.

Turkmenistan will begin their campaign against the Sri Lankans on September 5, and Miše, who was appointed to the head coaching role in March, believes three points in that match could be the platform his team needs to challenge for further honours.

Drawn alongside Lebanon, DPR Korea, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka in a logistically-challenging Group H, Bento said that, while the approach may vary slightly for individual opponents, Korea Republic’s overarching philosophy will remain.

“Preparations, until now have, been good,” said the 50-year-old, who led Sporting and Olympiacos to silverware in European club football.