Asian and Caribbean upsets, tight battles in South America and a first-ever win for American Samoa were among the latest qualifying tales as the race for Brazil 2014 heated up.
FIFA have confirmed that the Syrian football team has been disqualified from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, and that Tajikistan is thereby reinstated into the competition.
"We are the Asian champions, so our opponents will be doing their homework and come at us firing on all cylinders," Alberto Zaccheroni, Japan coach.
Arguably the toughest group in Asian qualifying, Group C features Japan, who will have to be at their best to ensure qualification ahead of Korea DPR, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
FIFA.com reviews the latest round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying in Asia, which saw the traditional favourites take an advantage over their underdog opponents.
In Group 5 of the third round of Asian qualifying for South Africa 2010, regional giants Iran started slowly but finished in imperious fashion.
