WILD WEATHER

South Korea’s English Premier League strike force of Hwang Hee-chan and Son Heung-min both scored as they beat Oman 3-1 in Muscat.

Wolverhampton’s Hwang opened the scoring after 19 minutes before Jung Seungh-hyun’s own goal equalised on the stroke of half-time.

Tottenham’s Son got South Korea’s second, turning outside the box and firing home an unstoppable left-foot finish on 82 minutes.

Joo Min-kyu put the result beyond doubt in the 11th minute of added time after being played in by Son.

It was South Korea’s first win in the final Asian qualifying phase after they were held goalless at home by Palestine last week.

The Palestinians could not repeat their heroic performance in Seoul, however, and were beaten 3-1 by Jordan in a match played in Kuala Lumpur because of the war in Gaza.

North Korea drew 2-2 with Asian Cup champions Qatar in wild weather in a Group A match played in Vientiane.

Ri Il Song gave North Korea an early lead, in what was nominally their home fixture, before they were reduced to 10 men when Jang Kuk Chol was red carded for preventing  a goal-scoring opportunity.