The six teams join Japan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, DPR Korea, Iraq and Korea Republic for the AFC Final Round Qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games draw which will be held here at AFC House on June 13.

The 12 teams will be split into three groups of four each and the final round will run through August 22 till November 21, with only the group toppers representing Asia at the Beijing Olympic Games next year. Hosts China qualify automatically.

GROUP A

Qatar carried out a merciless 7-0 demolition of Pakistan in Doha to advance to the final round by pushing Kuwait into third position on goal difference.

Majed Mohamed (37), Yousef Ahmed (39, 64), Ali Hassan (41), Adel Lami (43), Talal Al Beloushi (69) and Waleed Jassim (73) hit the net for the Qataris.

Qatar finished level on 11 points with Kuwait, who lost to Bahrain 2-1 in their final crunch outing, and the seven goals scored on the day carried them through on the basis of a superior goal difference.

In Manama, Jesin John’s 90th minute strike settled the encounter against Kuwait in favour of Bahrain 2-1.

Fati Baba Tonde put Bahrain in the driver’s seat with his 23rd minute opening goal but Kuwait hit back through Abdullah Masheleh’s penalty. It was left to Jesin to break the deadlock and put Bahrain in the final round with his late winner.

Bahrain, who began the day in second position, finished with 12 points.

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Bahrain 12*, 2. Qatar 11*, 3. Kuwait 11, 4. Pakistan 0

* Qualify for final round

GROUP B

Japan completed their campaign with a predictable 3-1 rout of Malaysia in Tokyo for a perfect record of six straight wins.

The Japanese opened the scoring in the 28th minute when Iwata midfielder Kota Ueda fired a cross from the right to Meiji university defender Yuto Nagatomo, whose diving header beat the Malaysian goalkeeper.

Another university student, Shuto Suzuki, then drilled in a sizzling left-footer from outside the penalty area in the national stadium in Tokyo to make it 2-0 in the 33rd minute.

Malaysia, who had a mathematical chance of making it to the final qualifying round, only managed a couple of shots in the first half.

Malaysian skipper Subramaniam Sooryapparad avoided a whitewash when he later found the back of the net after some goalmouth confusion.

"The final qualifying round is very important. This win was a very good stepping stone to it," said Japan coach Yasuharu Sorimachi, who fielded seven new players.

But he said the team had to make quicker decisions and spray the ball around the field with more fluidity.

"I didn’t think about anything but to dive into the goal. I was nervous today, but I’ll do my best to join the Olympic team," said Nagatomo.

Syria’s path to the final round was confirmed even before they had kicked the ball against Hong Kong after Japan defeated Malaysia in Tokyo. This however did not stop the Syrians from running four goals past Hong Kong in their 4-1 victory in Damascus in their late evening match. Majed Al Haj was the star of the evening for Syria with two goals.

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Japan 18*, 2. Syria 10*, 3. Malaysia 4, 4. Hong Kong 3

** Qualify for final round

GROUP C

Vietnam made sure of their place in the final with a 2-1 win over Indonesia, thanks to a brace by Nguyen Vu Phong.

Vu Phong bulged the net in the seventh and 92nd minutes after Achmad Jufriyanto had pulled the Indonesians level in the 44th minute.

The win gave the Vietnamese top position in the group on goal difference though they finished with 12 points, the same as the other qualifiers Lebanon.

Lebanon, who qualified with a round to spare, play Oman in their last outing today.

STANDINGS: 1. Vietnam 12*, 2. Lebanon 12*, 3. Oman 6, 4. Indonesia 3

* Qualify for final round

GROUP D

Nick Ward hit a brace as Australia crushed hosts Jordan 4-0 to qualify for the next round in Amman.

With just a draw sufficing to reserve their berth, all of Australia’s goals came in the second half with David Williams opening the scoring in the 55th minute. Ward added two goals in the 67th and 75th minutes before Dario Vidosic got his name on the scorecard with a 90th minute strike.

The win saw the Australians collect 11 points and qualify behind Saudi Arabia from the group.

The Saudis, meanwhile, ended Iran’s hopes of advancing by handing out a 3-2 defeat to the hosts at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

Iran needed to win to have any chance of qualifying and hope that Australia lost, but failed to overcome goals from Abdullah Hawsawi, Nayef Hazazi and Abdul Lateef Al Ghannam.

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Saudi Arabia 15*, 2. Australia 11*, 3. Iran 5, 4. Jordan 2

* Qualify for final round

GROUP E

Iraq, who qualified in the last round itself, completed their campaign on a victorious note with a 1-0 win over fellow group qualifiers DPR Korea and took top position in the pool.

Karrar Jassim scored the only goal of the game.

Thailand beat India 2-0 in the other group game which had no bearings on the standings.

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Iraq 12*, 2. DPR Korea 11*, 3. Thailand 8, 4. India 1

* Qualify for final round

GROUP F

Shavkat Salomov netted a brace and guided Uzbekistan to a 3-0 win over Yemen which booked their place in the final round as nearest challengers UAE lost to already-qualified Korea Republic 3-1 in the other group game.

Uzbekistan were badly in need of a win, and wanted UAE to lose, to qualify and their prayers were answered when Salomov found the net twice.

Korea Republic turned on the style against UAE for an emphatic victory. Lee Keun Ho fired the Koreans into the lead in the 32nd minute before grabbing his brace three minutes after the interval. Kim Chang Soo scored Korea’s third goal in the 81st minute with a good assist from Lee Keun Ho.

Yasser Matar pulled one back for UAE in the 71st minute.

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Korea Republic 15*, 2. Uzbekistan 12*, 3. UAE 6, 4. Yemen 3