Shadi Hamwi and Mohammad Almarmour both struck twice and captain Firak Al-Khatib once as Syria overcame going behind to Jong Il-gwan's third minute goal.

Syria will face Tajikistan, who opened their campaign with a 4-2 win over India, next on Wednesday while DPR Korea will face the hosts on Saturday.

India looked to be cruising to victory after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half but Tajikistan turned on the power in the second 45 minutes as they hit four goals to register a morale-boosting win ahead of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

The 50-year-old Belgian coach took over the reins from Carlos Queiroz early in June, and enjoyed a good start to his tenure as Iran beat Syria 5-0 in an international friendly, before playing to a 1-1 draw against Korea Republic less than a week later.

Tasked with ensuring Team Melli make their sixth appearance in the FIFA World Cup, Wilmots is confident his side can rise up to the challenge en route to Qatar 2022, praising numerous his players with Persepolis’ goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and youngsters Younes Delfi and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh coming in for special mention.

Kubo, the highly-rated superstar-in-waiting, had already played his last game for the Gasmen – a 3-1 win over Oita Trinita on June 1 – before inking a five-year deal with the Spanish giants and making his senior debut for the Japan national team at the Copa America in Brazil. It had been an eventful month for a player who only turned 18 on June 4.

That date, though, was significant as it meant Kubo was free to sign a deal that would take him back to Europe after a four-year absence, having returned to Japan in March 2015 following his release from FC Barcelona.

The seedings for the draw will be based on the latest FIFA Rankings issued on June 14, 2019 and following the conclusion of the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 where Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guam, Malaysia and Mongolia - advanced to Round 2.

The decision on the outcome of the match between Macau and Sri Lanka is still pending.

The East Asians saw off a strong challenge from Brunei, who had drawn level 2-2 on aggregate by the end of the first half at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

Mongolian captain Norjmoo Tsedenbal, however, had the final say as he struck a penalty two minutes into the second half to ensure his team advanced to the second round for the first time in their history.

Although Bangladesh were held 0-0 at home in the return leg, the 1-0 win recorded in last week's first leg in Vientiane was enough to take Jamie Day's side through to the second round of the Asian Qualifiers.