HONG KONG (AFP) - South Korea, who were World Cup semi-finalists in 2002, drew 1-1 against Lebanon to leave their hopes of making the 2006 finals in Germany on a knife-edge.
China too face an anxious finale after losing 1-0 in Kuwait but there were no problems for Japan who booked their place in the final Asian qualifying round with a 1-0 win against Oman in Muscat.
Choi Jin-Cheul gave the Koreans the perfect start in Beirut after just eight minutes with a drive from the edge of the area which beat Ziad Abdelsamad in goal.
But their hoped for goal avalanche never materialised despite them dominating the early stages of the tie and they were stunned when the home side levelled in the 27th minute much to the delight of the 20,000 crowd.
Ali Naserreddine was the scorer nipping in between a defender and goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae to put his team back on equal terms.
South Korea continued to dominate the proceedings with 2002 World Cup star Ahn Jung-Hwan having two chances to settle the match but first he was denied by the goalkeeper and then watched in agony as another effort came back off the crossbar.
South Korea, who have made every World Cup finals since 1986 and boast Asia's best record in the tournament, still top Group Seven with a one point lead over Lebanon.
They face Maldives in their final match on November 17 while Lebanon take on Vietnam with just the group winners assured of a place in the eight-nation final qualifying round.
China too face a nervous last round of matches after Waleed Jumah scored a 48th minute goal to give Kuwait a 1-0 win over the Asian Cup runners-up in Group Four.
Kuwait and China have 12 points each but the Gulf side, for whom Basher Al-Abdullah missed two glorious chances on Wednesday, have a slightly better goal difference.
The Kuwaitis face bottom country Malaysia in their final match while China are at home to Hong Kong.
Saudi Arabia, who have made the last three finals, wrapped up Group Eight on Tuesday and they were joined in the next round on Wednesday by Japan, Uzbekistan and North Korea.
Japan beat Oman in Muscat in Group Three with a goal from Takayuki Suzuki in the 51st minute enough to put Zico's team in the next stage.
Suzuki's vital goal came when he met Shunsuke Nakamuras cross with a powerful header.
"We showed excellent mental strength and technique," said Zico. "All the players did their jobs and we deserve to go through to the next round."
Group One will be decided on the final day after Iran came from behind to beat Qatar 3-2 in Doha and Jordan beat Laos by the same score.
Bayern Munich striker Vahid Hashemian scored the winner in the last minute to keep Iran on course for their third finals appearance after making it all the way in 1978 and 1998.
Ali Karimi was also on target twice and Iran, who face Laos in their final match, will be favourites to progress as they have a far superior goal difference.
Iraq, whose Under-23 team made the Olympic Games semi-finals in August, were unable to repeat the magic Wednesday with a 2-1 defeat in Amman at the hands of Uzbekistan in Group Two ending their hopes.
Maksim Shatskikh with a 10th minute opener and Alexander Geynrikh, in the 22nd minute, put the Uzbekis in control with Qusai Munir's 74th minute reply proving to be just a consolation for Iraq.
To compound Iraq's misery, they had Haidar Jabar sent-off in the 69th minute.
Uzbekistan have 13 points from five Group Two matches, five ahead of Iraq.
North Korea wrapped-up Group Five withy a 2-1 win in Pyongyang against Yemen to take their tally to 11 points and an unassailable four-point lead over closest rivals United Arab Emirates who lost 3-0 to Thailand in Bangkok.
North Korea will be appearing in the final round of the Asian zone qualifiers for the first time since 1994.
Their only appearance in the World Cup finals to date was in 1966, when they reached the quarter-finals.