Aaish struck in the 51st minute to secure all three points in a game of few chances to move Bahrain to third in Group A and keep their hopes of securing their place in South Africa next year alive.

Qatar, meanwhile, remain bottom of the standings with just one win from six games that leaves their own hopes of qualification in the balance.

The visitors dominated possession in the first half and had the first chance when Ali Afif fired a free-kick straight at goalkeeper Sayed Mohammed Jaafar while at the other end goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr held the ball at the second attempt following a Bahrain free-kick in the 20th minute.

Sebastian Soria then had just a defender to beat but chose to curl a pass into the box that failed to trouble the hosts and the opportunity went.

Mohamed Abdulraab sent a shot high over the bar in the 34th minute while for Bahrain Salman Isa acrobatically struck a volley straight into the hands of Saqr five minutes later.

But the best chance of the half came in 41st minute when Soria won a free-kick on the edge of the area and the striker stepped up to send a powerful effort that Jaafar did well to punch away.

Bahrain then had a chance of their own just before the break when defender Sayed Adnan sent a header onto the right upright from a free-kick before Abdulla Fatadi shot wide on the turn.

But Bahrain went ahead just six minutes into the second-half when Aaish curled a low free kick that evaded everyone in the box and went into the back of the net.

Soria should have levelled for Qatar on the hour mark but his weak shot posed little problem for Jaafar before Afif played a through ball for Khalfan Ibrahim but the midfielder’s shot was straight at the goalkeeper.

But Bahrain came close to adding a second when Ala’a Hubail hit a shot goalwards but the onrushing Saqr did well to make himself big and block the effort.

Chances after that petered out as the game ended in much the same vein as it had started as Bahrain chose to play it safe in order to preserve their slender lead.