Having had two goals ruled out by VAR and finding themselves 1-0 down, Tajikistan did not let up and scored through Parvizdzhon Umarbayev as the skipper found the top corner from a free kick in the 80th minute.

The winner came in added time from Nuriddin Khamrokulov whose effort looped over goalkeeper Mostafa Matar to seal a historic win for Tajikistan, who finished second in the group with four points behind table-toppers Qatar.

"I want to congratulate all the players. It was a fantastic game, a tough game. Twice VAR made the right decision but mentally it's difficult to come back from that," coach Petar Segrt told reporters.

"This shows that these players have fight (in them), they are ready to do everything for the country. I want to congratulate all Tajikistan people, this is something special."

Lebanon took the lead two minutes into the second half when Bassel Jradi curled a shot from the edge of the box past the outstretched hand of keeper Rustam Yatimov to bring the crowd to their feet.

But Lebanon were reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute when Kassem El Zein was sent off after a stamp for which he initially received a yellow card before VAR asked the referee to take a second look and it was upgraded to red.

Qatar, who had already won the group and sealed a last-16 place, rested key players but still beat China 1-0 after captain Hassan Al-Haydos scored the winner with a fantastic volley from a corner after 66 minutes to give the hosts maximum points.

Qatar coach Marquez Lopez described Haydos's rocket as the 'best goal in the tournament' and the veteran skipper said he was proud of how the second string players stepped up.

"Twenty-six players have played in the three matches and given a spectacular performance. The three points were very important for our morale," Haydos said.