Saudi Arabia bounced back from their opening defeat against Kuwait to defeat Bahrain 2-0 as the race for Group B's semi-final spots will be decided on Monday.

Qatar bounced back from their 2-1 loss to Iraq with an emphatic 6-0 win over Yemen in the group's evening match.

The win confirmed Iraq's place in the semi-finals as they now top the group with six points while UAE and Qatar will face off on Monday to decide the second team to advance to the last four stage.

Defending champions Oman were held to a goalless draw by Bahrain in the other Group B match with both teams failing to put away their chances.

Ali Mabkhout scored a hat-trick as United Arab Emirates defeated Yemen 3-0 to move to the top of the Group A standings as the 24th edition of the tournament got off to a spectacular start.

Qualifying action for the two premier competitions will resume on March 26 as the players - depending on where they play their club football - either return to their teams or get some much needed break.

Join the-AFC.com as we take a look at five talking points at this stage of a thrilling Asian Qualifiers.

Syria made it five wins from five to seize control of Group A as the West Asians will take a whopping eight-point lead into 2020 after defeating Philippines 1-0.

Turkmenistan will also head into the new year as Group H leaders, with their 1-0 win over Sri Lanka and the Lebanon-DPR Korea tie ending in a goalless stalemate giving the Central Asian side a one-point lead.

The Asian Qualifiers will resume on March 26.

IR Iran dropped to second at 33 following their recent defeat to Iraq in the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Japan - who are unbeaten in the Asian Qualifiers - maintained their World Ranking at 28.