Shocks for the hosts and the holders have given hope to the so-called lesser lights of Asian football and that will inspire confidence in group C on Monday when two debutants make their bow.

Kyrgyzstan’s Anton Zemlianukhin is the country’s record scorer with half of his 12 international goals coming in the last round of qualification.

Wu Lei is the player the nation expects to deliver, especially after hitting 27 goals in 29 games to finish with the Chinese Super League golden boot last season.

That means the burden of responsibility is at the other end of the pitch and on the shoulders of Phil Younghusband, the Azkals’ long-time go-to man and record scorer.

Paulo Bento’s young squad led by experienced Newcastle United midfielder Ki Sung-yueng until Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min arrives in the UAE next week.

Another one of the favourites, Carlos Queiroz’s Iran , finish the night’s matches when they take on Yemen in group D at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.