Issa headed past Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima in the 24th minute to give Milan Macala's team their second win in a row following last week's 3-1 triumph over Hong Kong.

Bahrain now have maximum points from their opening two games while Japan are in second place in the group, level on points with Yemen.

Yemen picked up their first win with a 1-0 victory over Hong Kong which came courtesy of a 52nd minute goal from substitute Akram Al Selwi.

"I'm happy we have registered our first win in the qualifiers because it will boost the morale of the players," said Yemen coach Sami Al Nash.

"The win will regain the confidence of the players especially after the hard conditions that we had."

The top two teams in each of the five qualifying groups progress to the 16-team finals, which will be held in Qatar in January 2011.

Joining hosts Qatar and defending champions Iraq among those to have already qualified for the finals are Saudi Arabia and South Korea - who finished second and third respectively in the last edition of the competition - and India, who won last year's AFC Challenge Cup.