Jordan beat Palestine, while Iran beats Kuwait while the pair maintains the pressure on the group leaders in South Korea in group B.
Jordan beat the Palestinian national team 3-1 to consolidate the second qualification for the 2026 World Cup in group B of Asian qualifications.
Yazan Al Arab opened the scoring in the third minute at the Amman International Stadium in the capital of Jordan, Abdallah Nasib doubling the advantage only eight minutes later.
Tamer Seyam withdrew one for Palestine just after half an hour, but Mousa Al Ta’mari finished the scoring and sealed the match for Jordan in the third minute of the injury time of the first period.
The first two of each of the three groups in six teams in the third Asian qualification round appear at the World Cup, while the third and fourth place teams qualify for another stage to compete for two other places.
The result leaves Palestine without victory, which qualified for the stages with direct disposal of the Asian Cup for the first time in 2024, at the bottom of the table with three points of seven games.
They are still fortunate to reach fourth place which is currently held by Oman on seven points after their impressive draw 1-1 with South Korea in Goyang, just north of Seoul.
South Korea remains at the top of the group and underway for an 11th consecutive appearance in the World Cup despite the abandoned points.
Hwang Hee-Chan put the hosts forward just before the break and Oman won a point through the goal of Al-Al-Busaidi’s 80th minute.
“People may think that this qualification lap is easy, but we have to work so hard for each match,” said South Korea captain and Tottenham Hotspur Heung-Min.
“A match like this can teach us a lesson. We have to take any positive that we can from that.”
South Korea has 15 points, three of Jordan and Iraq – the latter were held in a 2-2 draw by Kuwait.
In group A, Iran now has 19 points after a 2-0 victory against the United Arab Emirates in Tehran to stay away from Uzbekistan, which beat Kyrgyzstan 1-0. The water and Qatar, which beat North Korea 5-1, have both 10 points.
