After a demoralising 10-0 humbling at the hands of hosts Iran, Nepal gave a better account of themselves in their second Group E fixture and took the lead a minute after the hour mark through skipper Bimal Gharti Magar only for Khaled Al Enezi to rescue a point for the Kuwaitis with the equaliser ten minutes later.

Kuwait’s draw allowed Iran to go two points clear at the top of the Group E standings after the hosts handed Jordan their second successive defeat as Amirhossein Peirivani’s side enjoyed a 3-0 victory as the qualifying campaign reached its penultimate round of fixtures.

Jordan, who lost 2-1 to Kuwait in Monday’s Group E opener, and Iran looked to be heading into the interval at the Samen Al Aemeh Stadium with the game locked at 0-0 until Nima Daghestani struck on the stroke of half-time to give the home side the lead.

Reza Shekari took his personal tally to three in two games when he followed up his two goals against Nepal with Iran’s second in Sunday’s crucial clash with the Jordanians before Nima Mokhtari repeated Shekari’s achievement when he scored his third of the campaign in the 63rd minute as Iran ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.

Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals while hosts Bahrain received an automatic qualification (total 16 teams).

If Bahrain finish top of their qualifying group or one of the five second best-placed teams, the next (6th) second-placed team will qualify for the final competition.