Haider Abdullah (L) of Iraq challenges Konstantin Gorovenko of Kazakhstan. Iraq advances to the final round of the Asian group.(Reuters)

The two sides, who between them had three players sent off in the final three minutes, had also drawn 1-1 in their first meeting in Baghdad a week ago.

Iraq edged Kazakhstan on goal difference after scoring 28 and conceding five in six matches in a group which also included minnows Nepal and Macao. The Kazakhs finished with a 20-2 goals record.

Kazakhstan had to win their last match in order to advance and they led 1-0 after Oleg Litvinenko surprised Iraqi keeper Amer Hussain with a powerful 25-metre blast into the top corner in the 32nd minute.

But Haidar Majid equalised with a well-taken volley inside the box 10 minutes later.

The game deteriorated into an ill-tempered second half as the Kazakhs, urged on by a near-capacity 30,000 home crowd, pressed forward in search of a winner.

Kazakhstan's Igor Avdeyev was sent off in the 87th minute while team mate Almas Kulshibayev and Abdul Wahab Abolheel of Iraq were also shown the red card in the final minute.

"The Kazakh team was definitely playing for a win, but we were able to contain them with a well-organised defence," Iraqi coach Adnan Mageed said. "We also did well on a counter-attack."

Kazakhstan coach Vahid Masudov blamed lack of preparation for his team's failure.

"All of our top players only got together a few days before the tournament began as most of them play for various Russian clubs, and it cost us dearly in the end," he said.

In the early match, Nepal thrashed Macao 6-1 to remain in third place.

Uzbekistan edges Turkmenistan 1-0

TASHKENT -- Uzbekistan beat Turkmenistan 1-0 in their World Cup Asian zone group seven qualifier on Wednesday to maintain their 100 per cent record after two matches.

The Uzbeks dominated their former Soviet Central Asian neighbours for most of the game but were unable to capitalise until Krylya Sovietov Samara midfielder Mirjalol Kasymov curved a 20-metre free kick low into the corner of the net after 63 minutes.

Uzbekistan goalkeeper Oleg Belyakov kept a clean sheet for a second straight game after keeping out Taiwan in Monday's 7-0 victory.

In the earlier match, Jordan rebounded from a 2-0 defeat by Turkmenistan two days previously to beat Taiwan 2-0.

Belal Al Laham put the Jordanians ahead in the 16th minute and Mehd Omar Shilbayeh added the second shortly after the interval.

On Friday, Jordan take on Uzbekistan while Turkmenistan face Taiwan before all four teams travel to the Jordanian capital Amman for the remainder of the tournament next week.