AFC 2014 World Cup qualifying: Uzbekistan muddies up Group A, Japan all but in

Lebanon look like the team least likely to make their way out of Asian qualifying at the moment. They sit bottom of Group A after a tough fought, but expected loss to Qatar. Naturalized Uruguayan Sebastián Soria scored his third goal of qualifying to grab three points for his side.

With South Korea sitting dormant during this round of qualifiers, Uzbekistan stunningly fired themselves to the top of the Group A table with a victory in Tehran. Iran, who defeated Uzbekistan away when the teams last met, was coming off of a win over South Korea and was expected to win again at home, but Ulugbek Bakayev netted an improbable winner for the visitors as they held on for a clean sheet. Uzbekistan sit on eight points, ahead of Iran, South Korea and Qatar, who all have seven. South Korea has a game in hand, and the top two teams automatically qualify for the World Cup.

Yes, the Asian Football Confederation has four automatic berths into the 2014 World Cup, along with one playoff spot. This was announced long ago, but it’s easily to forget, simply based on who has a chance to get to the World Cup as a result of those change. One of Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar or Lebanon will qualify for the World Cup. Another one of those teams will have the chance to go to a playoff. At least one of Oman, Jordan or Iraq will also have the chance to go to a playoff, and one of them might qualify outright.

Oman will get the Japanese out of the way with three more games to play. They’ll probably see this as scheduling working out in their favor. Japan are inching closer to clinching a top-two spot in Group B, and will probably end up as the first team anywhere in the world to earn a World Cup berth. The biggest game of the day is in Tehran, where Iran, placed second in Group A, hosts third-placed Uzbekistan.