First half goals from Younes Mahmoud and Ahmed Mnajed plus a late strike by substitute Saleh Sadir sealed the win for Iraq, who will play the winners of the second semi-final between Jordan and Iran on Sunday.

The huge contingent of Iraqi fans who showed up at Amman International Stadium had to wait only seven minutes for their side's opening goal as a handball inside the Syrian area earned them a penalty which striker Mahmoud duly dispatched.

Despite the early goal, the first half was largely disappointing and only came to life again in the 43rd minute when Iraq got their second as Ahmed Mnajed fired a powerful low shot into the bottom left corner of Mosab Balhous' goal.

Iraq nearly added a third goal in stoppage time when Mahmoud cut in from the left flank and set up Nashat Akram with a neat pass only for the striker to see his effort come back off the right post.

The Syrians improved in the second half and could have pulled a goal back in the 58th minute when Al Karama midfielder Jihad Al Hussein broke clear with only the goalkeeper to beat but saw his effort saved by Noor Sabri.

Iraq coach Jorvan Vieira made several substitutions in the second half bringing on Karrar Jassim, Ali Abbas and Saleh Sadir, and the changes paid dividends as Iraq made it 3-0 with only four minutes left on the clock.

Jassim, who came on in the 71st minute, saw his attempted pass to Sadir cut off by the Syrian defence but he gathered the loose ball and slipped it through at the second attempt to Sadir, who curled the ball past Mosab Balhous just three minutes after coming into the pitch.

Iraq are preparing for next month's AFC Asian Cup where they will be competing in Group A along with co-hosts Thailand, newcomers Australia and Oman.