Both sides took some time to find their footing but Uzbekistan settled first, with Laziz Abduraimov heading just wide of the right post from the centre of the area in his side’s first clear look at goal.

The Central Asian side kept the pressure on as Akhrorbek Ravshanbekov and Abubakir Rakhimov made numerous forays upwards, with the latter seeing his close-range effort in the ninth minute denied by Australia custodian Charlie Wilson-Papps, who made another save from Sukhrob Sadirzhonov seven minutes later.

After numerous attempts, Uzbekistan’s persistence paid off in the 28th minute when a defence-splitting through ball from Sadirzhonov found Mirkomil Murodov, who drilled his shot from just inside the area into the bottom right corner past the helpless Australia keeper.

A constantly back-pedalling Australia were unable to make any inroads into their opponents’ 18-yard box for the first half hour, with their first shot on target coming from Oliver O’ Carroll, whose hesitant header in the 34th minute dropped straight into keeper Olimjon Shamuratov’s arms.

Uzbekistan doubled their lead seconds before the break when an unmarked Akhrorbek Ravshanbekov, latching on to a cut-back from Sadirzhonov, swept the ball in from the edge of the six-yard box past a diving Wilson-Pappas.

Uzbekistan continued their high-tempo game after the break as Sadirzhonov forced an instinctive save from the Australia keeper a minute into the restart, with Wilson-Pappas then going low to keep out Murodov’s strike in the 52nd minute.

The custodian made crucial saves from the ever-dangerous pair of Sadirzhonov and Murodov, with the former coming close to a third goal when he weaved down the left and sent a curling shot that missed the inside of the right post by inches.

Despite Australia’s best efforts to reduce the scoreline, Uzbekistan controlled the pace of the match until the final whistle to head into the knockout stage with maximum confidence.