Saudi Arabia tie Paraguay in World Cup Qualifying warmup

Bahrain defeated Burkina faso 3-1 while Qatar thrashed AFC Challenge Cup runners-up Tajikistan 5-0. UAE lost by a solitary goal to Algeria in Le Touquet and Uzbekistan suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Oman. Another West Asian side Syria lost to Venezuela 4-1.

Cristian Riveros gave Paraguay the lead in the 10th minute but Faisal Al Sultan restored the parity for Saudi Arabia in the 77th minute. Saudi Arabia will host Iran in their qualifying opener on September 6.

Abdulla Omar Ismail (43), Salman Issa (57) and Mahmoud Abdurrahman (70) were on target for Bahrain, , who will host Japan in the final round of Asian qualifiers on September 6. Ouattara scored the consolation goal for Burkina Faso in the 65th minute.

The Central Asians were no match for Qatar who emerged triumphant on the back of goals from Ali Hassan Afif (5), Sebastian Soria (50), Majed Mohammed (63), Yousef Ahmed Ali (88), Mohammed Ghulam (90).

In Muscat, Fouzi Basheer (25) and Imad Al Hawsawi (85) dented Uzbekistan’s preparations ahead of their opener against Qatar on September 6.

Rafik Djebour netted Algeria’s solitary goal at home in the 12th minute against UAE, who will face DPR Korea in the opener on September 6.

Leonel Vielma (14), Giancarlo Maldonado (53), Jorge Rojas (56) and Moreno (62) scored for Venezuela while Syria’s consolation goal was netted by Younes Sulaiman seven minutes from time.