Friday 19 February 2016, 12:36

Five from Asia set for Colombia

Thailand, Iran, Vietnam and hosts Uzbekistan all qualified for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 after winning their respective quarter-finals at the AFC Futsal Championship Uzbekistan 2016, with Australia joining them via a play-off win.

In the first two quarter-final matches of the day, a brace from Dilshod Rakhmatov helped hosts Uzbekistan beat Iraq 3-0 and secure their first ever Futsal World Cup qualification, while a strong second half from Thailand saw them comprehensively beat Australia 6-1 to book their place in Colombia.

The rout theme continued when a hat-trick from Hossein Tayebi helped Iran to a 7-0 win over Kyrgyzstan to secure Team Melli's spot at Colombia 2016.

Vietnam joined Uzbekistan in celebrating qualification to their maiden Futsal World Cup after defeating Japan in the most dramatic quarter-final of the day.

The match ended 3-3 after regulation time and nothing could separate the sides after extra time as both teams got on the scoresheet to make it 4-4. Phung Trong Luan scored the decisive penalty in a 2-1 shoot-out win over Samurai Blue to make history for The Golden Star.

The qualification is especially historic for Vietnam as it represents the country's first ever appearance at a FIFA finals of any kind.

Australia stamped their ticket following wins over Iraq and Kyrgyzstan. A 5-3 win over the Iraqis set up the dual for the final Asian spot at Colombia 2016, with a 3-1 victory securing their spot at the global finals later this year.