Ferza Turdiboeva put Uzbekistan 1-0 after just two minutes but the flurry of goals that followed the early opener in their Group A curtain-raiser never materialised as Lebanon held out until four minutes from the interval when Zebo Juraeva, who netted eight times in Wednesday’s 18-0 hammering of Kuwait, doubled the Central Asians’ lead.

But the Uzbeks doubled their advantage with goals either side of the interval as Makhfuza Turapova made it 3-0 two-minutes into first-half stoppage time before Aziza Ermatova added the fourth just 60 seconds after the restart.

Lebanon didn’t let the early second-half setback demoralise them too much and they were able to ensure that Ermatova’s strike was the last goal they conceded with a more solid defensive display than they showed in the first period.

The winner of Group A will join fellow qualifiers Thailand and Myanmar, who topped Groups B and D respectively, defending champions Australia, Japan, China, Korea Republic and hosts Vietnam in the 2014 finals which will take place in Ho Chi Minh City from May 14 to 25 next year.