Saudi Arabia needs to fight hard for the automatic berth in next week's final match of the World Cup Asian qualifying after it was held to a goalless draw by South Korea in Seoul on Wednesday.
While Iran, in the same group with the Saudis, beat the United Arab Emirates 1-0 with a second-half goal from captain Ali Karimi, keeping its hopes alive of a berth at the finals and making the Group B qualification wide open.
Saudi Arabia now must win its final game at home against DPR Korea if it is to clinch automatic qualification. A draw or a win for the visitors would see DPR Korea go through automatically instead.
Saudi Arabia could even miss out on third place in Group B after Iran's 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates.
Second-placed DPR Korea has 11 points, the same as Saudi Arabia, which trails on goal difference, while Iran has 10. A victory for Iran over already-qualified South Korea next week would guarantee it at least a third-place finish and possibly an automatic berth.
In Group A, already-qualified Japan secured a 1-1 draw with Qatar in Yokohama, an own goal after three minutes ending the Gulf side's faint hopes of reaching its first finals.
Elsewhere, Bahrain lost 2-0 to Australia in Sydney. With Japan and Australia through, Bahrain must avoid a home defeat by Uzbekistan to gain Group A's playoff place.
However, the 2-0 loss to Australia gave Bahrain no margin for error in the final game, as Uzbekistan would grab third place with even the narrowest of wins.
Source: Xinhua
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