HONG KONG: Son Heung-min scored twice and set up the third as South Korea handed China a 3-0 defeat in Shenzhen on Tuesday to complete back-to-back wins at the start of their challenge for a place at the 2026 World Cup finals.
Son put the Koreans in front in the Group C clash in the second phase of Asia's preliminaries with an 11th minute penalty after Hwang Hee-chan had been fouled in the area, steering his spot kick low to the right of Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling.
He added the second in the final minute of the first half with a header that looped over Yan from the edge of the six-yard box following Lee Kang-in's corner.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward turned provider three minutes from time when he drifted in a free kick from the right that Jung Seung-hyun headed past Yan to put the seal on the victory.
The win keeps the Koreans perfect after the first two games in the second round of Asia's preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup and was China's first defeat after winning against Thailand on Thursday.
The Thais bounced back from that loss to beat Singapore 3-1 loss with Suphanat Mueanta scoring twice in the second half for Mano Polking's team, who move level with China on three points.
Mohanad Ali scored six minutes into injury time to earn Iraq a 1-0 win over hosts Vietnam in Group F as Jesus Casas' side moved onto six points.
Vietnam remain in second in the group standings after the Philippines and Indonesia shared a 1-1 draw in Manila.
Jong Il Gwan scored a hat-trick as North Korea picked up their first win of the campaign with a 6-1 thrashing of Myanmar in Yangon having started their quest for a place at the finals last Thursday with a draw against Syria in Group B.
Tajikistan also won 6-1 with Amadoni Kamolov hitting a brace in their victory over Pakistan in Group G in Islamabad.
Hong Kong twice came back from behind to draw 2-2 with Turkmenistan with Everton Camargo scoring midway through the second half to secure a point after Ruslan Mingazow had scored both goals for the visitors in Group E.
Substitute Darren Lok claimed the only goal as Malaysia defeated Taiwan in Taipei in Group D and Bangladesh and Lebanon shared a 1-1 draw in Group I in Dhaka.
Saudi Arabia will be looking to follow up their opening win over Pakistan with another victory when they take on Jordan in Amman later in the day in Group G while Bahrain host the United Arab Emirates in Group H and Afghanistan meet Kuwait in Group A. -- Reuters
Asian World Cup qualifying results on Tuesday
Group B
Myanmar 1 (Tun 76) North Korea 6 (Jong 30, 54, 56, Choe 34-pen, Han 38, Ri 71)
Group C
China 0 South Korea 3 (Son Heung-min 11-pen, 45, Jung 87)
Singapore 1 (Anuar 41) Thailand 3 (Sarachat 5, Mueanta 66, 87)
Group D
Taiwan 0 Malaysia 1 (Lok 72)
Group E
Hong Kong 2 (Wong 12, Camargo 65) Turkmenistan 2 (Mingazov 4, 36)
Uzbekistan 2 (Orunov 52, Sergeev 83) Iran 2 (Rezaian 14, Taremi 38)
Group F
Philippines 1 (Reichelt 23) Indonesia 1 (Ramdani 70)
Vietnam 0 Iraq 1 (Ali 90+7)
Group G
Pakistan 1 (Nabi 21) Tajikistan 6 (Kamolov 9, 66, Soirov 13, Umarbaev 26-pen, Panjshanbe 45, Samiev 90+1)
Group H
Nepal 0 Yemen 2 (Al Dahi 72, Al-Dahi 85)
Group I
Bangladesh 1 (Morsalin 72) Lebanon 1 (Osman 67)
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