Kuwait 1-3 Yemen
Yemen’s bright start almost paid off in the fourth minute when Hesham Al Husaini’s close-range header off a corner was frantically pushed away by keeper Rakan Al Saeid, who then acrobatically denied a stinging effort in the 17th minute from Osamah Al Hemyari.

Al Saeid, however, was beaten in the 24th minute when Ali Nasser Daleeo laid up for Ahmed Saleh, whose 25-yard strike took a deflection off Kuwait defender Hamad Al Saeed and went beyond the custodian’s reach into the left hand corner.

Kuwait found the Yemen defence a stumbling block, with their only attempt of note coming in the 36th minute when Abdullah Al Qarzaei’s curling effort gave keeper Wahdah Ahmed his first taste of action.

Kuwait, who lost 4-0 to Japan in their opener, started the stronger side after the break, and after Muath Al Mutairi’s dipping shot tested Ahmed in the 67th minute, leveled the score three minutes later when Mesfer Al Adwani picked up Yousef Allanqawi’s clever backheel, surged into the area and blasted home.

Yemen responded just a minute later, Ahmed Saleh’s shot from just inside the area again taking a deflection and rolling past a helpless Al Saeid to put his side in the lead once again.

Zaid Gehad put the match beyond Kuwait’s reach in the 85th minute when he blasted in from close range to give Yemen the first three points of their campaign.

Cambodia 0-8 Japan
Japan took control from the starting whistle and Cambodia’s Farib Mat found himself in the centre of action, with the custodian going low to collect Kento Hamasaki’s sweeping shot in the 10th minute and then denying the midfielder’s header a minute later.

Jelani Makinose came close to beating Mat in the 17th minute but failed to connect to Kaede Suzuki’s pass from the left, with the forward missing the ball by inches in front of a gaping goal.

They finally broke the stalemate in the 26th minute when Nick Schmidt’s fierce strike from outside the area deflected off defender Loem Vattana and found the left hand corner of the net.

The Cambodia custodian kept the scoreline intact when he pushed Homare Tokuda’s low shot onto the left post in the 43rd minute but was unable to prevent the Japan skipper from rising high a minute later to head into the top left for their second goal.

The 2016 champions maintained their attacking momentum after the break, and the Cambodia backline finally gave way in the 68th minute when Sunao Kidera picked up a loose ball in the 18-yard box and slotted past an out-of-position Mat.

Japan added goal number four in the 74th minute through Futa Tokumura, who stabbed the ball into an empty goalmouth after Hiroto Asada’s diagonal pass from the right caught the Cambodia keeper.

The hosts further crumbled when Asuto Fujita half-volleyed home in the 78th minute, followed by Vattana finding the back of his own net two minutes later and Ryuki Osa coming down the left a minute before regulation to drive his shot beyond Mat’s grasp.

Another own goal, this time by skipper Vreak Phan three minutes into stoppage time, closed the match.