Guam stunned India to move to the top of their 2018 World Cup qualifying group on Tuesday, while Japan saw their campaign get off to a rocky start as they were held to a goalless draw by Singapore. Reigning Asian champions Australia scraped past a gritty Kyrgyzstan with a 2-1 victory.
South Korea, China and the United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, had no such problems with all winning their opening matches in their bids to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia. The tiny Pacific island of Guam produced Tuesday's most remarkable result, with the Matao winning 2-1 against opponents who are currently 33 spots ahead of them in the FIFA world rankings.
Looking to build on their 1-0 win over Turkmenistan on Thursday, Guam took the lead at the GFA National Training Center after 38 minutes when Brandon McDonald headed in Ryan Guy's long throw-in. Travis Nicklaw extended the advantage in the 62nd minute when he received a long pass from his elder brother Shawn and fired home on the turn. South Korea, who are eyeing a ninth consecutive World Cup appearance, started well in Group G as goals in either half by Lee Jae-Sung and Bayer Leverkusen's Son Heung-Min gave them a 2-0 win over Myanmar. Hong Kong lead the way in Group C after a 2-0 win over Maldives, Thailand sit atop Group F after winning 2-0 at Chinese Taipei and North Korea are frontrunners in Group H following a 4-2 victory over Uzbekistan in Pyongyang.