PHOTOS: UAE march into Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup final round

The UAE secured a hard-fought 3-2 win over Vietnam in the final round of the Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers at Zabeel Stadium on Tuesday.

The victory saw the UAE leapfrog Vietnam into top spot of Group G to reach the final round of qualifying.

Vietnam, despite the defeat, advanced for the first time in their history as one of the best-placed second teams.

The UAE opened the scoring on Tuesday night when Abdullah Ramadan sent through Ali Salmeen to score on 32 minutes.

Just six minutes later, the UAE were two up as Khalil Ibrahim rounded goalkeeper Bui Tan Truongand was brought down for a penalty. Striker Ali Mabkhout confidently slotted home his 76th international goal.

Mahmoud Khamis added the UAE’s third five minutes into the second half.

Vietnam had a late rally as Nguyen Tien Linh latched on to a through pass from substitute Tran Minh Vuong and slipped the ball past goalkeeper Ali Khaseif with just five minutes to go. In the final minute of added time, Vietnam added a second goal but came up short.

The UAE held on to top the group and march into the final round of qualifiers as a top seed.

Bert van Marwijk's side finished one point ahead of Vietnam on 18 to 17, with Malaysia third on 13 points.