In Pictures: Asian Cup group stage

A tepid display from the home team at Khalifa Stadium sees the Uzbeks win 2-0 to take an early three-point lead in Group A [GALLO/GETTY]

China, who are far from a major force in Asian football, join them the next day with a 2-0 defeat of Gulf champions Kuwait [GALLO/GETTY]

The biggest shock comes when Syria beat regular World Cup qualifiers Saudi Arabia 2-1, leading to the Saudis sacking their coach after one match [AFP]

More than 100 FIFA rankings separate India and Australia when they meet in Group C, with the Socceroos cruising to a 4-0 win [GALLO/GETTY]

Defending champions Iraq take on neighbours Iran in a highly-anticipated Group D opener in Al Rayyan, 20km outside Doha [AFP]

Iraq fans are happy as their side take an early lead through Younis Mahmoud, who scored the winner in the 2007 final against Saudi Arabia [AFP]

But after equalising just before half time, Team Melli secure a late win through Iman Mobali who is lost from view under his teammates [AFP]

Uzbekistan coach Vadim Abramov sees his side go to the brink of the quarter-finals as they down Kuwait 2-1 in the second match of Group B on Wednesday, January 12 [AFP]

Kuwait are left praying that Qatar beat China in the late match to give the Kuwaitis any hope of qualifying [AFP]

Qatar(***)s Yusef Ahmed scores a spectacular goal for the hosts as they come back from their opening-day defeat to Uzbekistan with a dominant display over China [AFP]

The 2-0 win takes Qatar second in Group A behind Uzbekistan but they still need a win in their last match against Kuwait to guarantee a quarter-final spot [AFP]

Saudi Arabia(***)s Osama Hawsawi and Saud Kariri comfort goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah after his mistake gave Jordan a 1-0 win and put the three-times champions out of the competition [Reuters]

The Saudis came to Doha with high hopes of at least repeating their 2007 final appearance but many fans will have crossed back over the border after dismal performances against two low-ranked sides [Reuters]

Keisuke Honda scores Japan(***)s 1,000th international goal - 88 years after Ryuzo Shimizu scored the first - as they beat Syria 2-1 in the other Group B match [Reuters]

Australia and South Korea meet in a clash of two of Asia(***)s best teams and battle to a 1-1 draw at Al Gharafa stadium [GALLO/GETTY]

Ismaeel Abdulatif scores four goals as Bahrain beat India 5-2 in the other Group C match [AFP]

Iran(***)s colourful and noisy fans celebrate as their team becomes the first to reach the quarter-finals with victory over North Korea [Reuters]

Walid Abbas is consoled by a teammate as the UAE player scores an own-goal in injury time to give defending champions Iraq a 1-0 win [Reuters]

Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov can(***)t stop a brilliant free kick from China(***)s Hao Junmin but the 2-2 draw in their final Group A match sees the Chinese go out and the Uzbeks qualify in first place [Reuters]

Ex-Napoli player Fabio Cesar repeats the trick for Qatar(***)s third goal in a 3-0 defeat of Kuwait, who finish bottom of Group A with zero points [Reuters]

Recovering from their opening defeat to the Uzbeks, Qatar reach the Asian Cup quarter-finals for the second time, with coach Bruno Metsu dreaming of winning the tournament [Reuters]

Asian Cup group stage gallery update CAHILL

Syria(***)s Sanharib Maliki is either an accomplished contortionist or he(***)s being kicked in the face as Jordan put Syria out of the tournament and go through to a quarter-final against Uzbekistan [Reuters]

Nasser Al Johar, right, becomes the second Saudi Arabia coach to lose his job during the Asian Cup as his team loses 5-0 to Japan to go home bottom of Group B without a point [Reuters]

India finish bottom of Group C but are hardly disgraced after relatively respectable defeats to the far-stronger Australia, Bahrain and South Korea [Reuters]

As Australia reach the quarters with a late 1-0 win over Bahrain, Tim Cahill lies with an injury that will be of some concern to Everton manager David Moyes back in England [Reuters]

Referee Kim Dong-jin shows a red card to Iran goalscorer Arash Afshin as he is stretchered off during the 3-0 win over UAE as Team Melli finish Group D with nine points [Reuters]

With Iran already qualified, Iraq celebrate the continuation of their title defence as they beat North Korea 1-0 to set up a quarter-final with Australia [Reuters]