Iran's Mehdi Taremi dealt China's World Cup hopes a major blow on Tuesday, as Australia grabbed a crucial win over UAE to stay in the hunt for an automatic spot at Russia 2018. Japan ended Thailand's campaign with a 4-0 victory in Saitama, and South Korea squeezed past Syria 1-0 to get back on track after last week's upset to China.
Marcello Lippi's team had raised Chinese hopes with their 1-0 win over the Koreans, but Taremi's goal straight after half-time consigned them to defeat by the same scoreline.
While Iran, Asia's top-ranked team, maintain their four-point cushion from South Korea at the top of Group A, China are second from bottom with only three games to go. China are pumping huge resources into football in an effort to lift themselves among the sport's elite, starting with qualifying for only the second World Cup in their history. But they may now have to win all of their remaining games against Syria, Uzbekistan and Qatar to reach next year's tournament in Russia.
In Sydney, Australia badly needed a win against UAE and after a game featuring 42 fouls they ran out 2-0 victors thanks to goals from Jackson Irvine and Mathew Leckie. Elsewhere, China-based Hong Jeong-Ho struck in the fourth minute as Uli Stielike's South Korea beat Syria 1-0 to remain second in Group A. Qatar's already slim hopes of qualifying for the tournament also vanished as they went down to Uzbekistan 1-0 in Tashkent.