The hosts held on for the win despite playing the final 11 minutes a man light following the sending off of Abdulla Al Marzooq.

The victory means the Gulf nation finish third in Group A of Asian qualifying and will face the third-placed side in Group B in a play-off. The winner of that game will tackle New Zealand for a place in South Africa.

The game got off to a slow start as both sides looked cautious but it was the hosts who produced the first real chance in the 12th minute when Ismail Abdullatif's low shot had the goalkeeper beaten but went narrowly wide of the far post.

Abdullatif threatened again minutes later when he was picked out inside the box by Mohamed Hubail but the forward's shot from point-blank range was superbly denied by Ignatiy Nesterov.

Uzbekistan were finding themselves on the back foot for the much of the first half although Stanislav Andreev's low cross in the 32nd minute caused problems before the Bahrain defence cleared the danger.

But the hosts should have taken the lead shortly before the break when first Abdullatif was denied by a fine save from Nesterov before Alaa Hubail was then denied by the shot-stopper.

Bahrain had Sayed Mohamed to thank for ensuring they did not fall behind shortly after the restart when the defender acrobatically cleared Andreev's effort off the line.

Alaa Hubail just failed to get on a cross from Abdulla Omar just before the hour mark while Alexander Geynrich was denied at the last second from putting the Uzbeks ahead by Sayed Jaafar in the 72nd minute.

It was to prove a crucial save as Bahrain took the lead two minutes later when Abdulrahman rattled home a fine left-foot drive from a free-kick.

Al Marzooq was dismissed with 11 minutes remaining for a strong challenge on Sahob Juraev but the hosts defended their slender lead resolutely to ensure they took the three points at the final whistle.