BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, June 11 -- Brunei Darussalam national football team beat their Mongolian counterpart 2-1 on Tuesday evening, but failed to secure a position in the second round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) section of the FIFA World Cup qualifying stage also doubles as the qualifying tournament for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. In the current FIFA Rankings, Brunei stands at 194th whereas Mongolia are ranked at 187th.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in Ulan Bator, Brunei attempted to create history by overturning this two-goal deficit on home soil at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
The host revived hope of qualification after harvesting an early goal in the fourth minute and a tip shot score in the 37th minute before the first half ended.
However, in the 47th minute, Mongolia was awarded a penalty and successfully scored. With this crucial away goal, Mongolia managed to secure a place in the Qualification Round 2.
The first leg of Qualification Round 1 took place on June 6, with the return leg on June 11. After two legs of matches, six winners from 12 lowest-ranked AFC teams will join Asia's top 34 teams in Qualification Round 2, which will commence in September this year.