KUWAIT, Sept 27 (KUNA) -- Hosts Kuwait thrashed Oman, 7-2, in the opening match of the 2022 AFC Futsal Asian Cup on Tuesday as they climbed atop Group A temporarily on goal difference.
The event, which sees 16 national sides vying for continental silverware this year, kicked off earlier today in the attendence of Minister of Information and Culture and State Youth Minister Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi, and is being held until October 8.
Abdulrahman Al-Taweel and Abdullatif Al-Abbasi each scored a brace with a goal apiece for Abdulaziz Al-Bassam, Yousef Al-Khalifa and Saleh Al-Fadhel, with Oman's scorers being Sameer Al-Boloushi and Khalfan Ahmad.
Simultaneously, Group A sides Thailand fought out a 3-2 win over Iraq, scoring three back-to-back goals after being two down for much of the game.
The result takes the Southeast Asians to joint top of the group alongside the hosts on points, losing out to the hosts on a four-goal difference in their first encounter of the tournament.
Elsewhere in Group B, there were wins for Uzbekistan and Tajikistan who beat Turkmenistan and Bahrain respectively, with another four group C and D encounters scheduled the following day.
Kuwait replaced Turkmenistan as hosts of the event, originally scheduled for 2020, which was pushed back to this year due to fears over the spread of COVID.
Current 2018 champions Iran remain the competition's most successful side with 12 titles, while only Japan, who were runners-up that same year, trail with three Asian cups. (end) fsa.sd