The talented Uzbeks have been tipped to claim one of the automatic qualifying spots but Majdi Siddiq, Magid Mohamed and Talal Al Bloushi did the damage for the home side in their opening Group One encounter.

Uzbekistan made the early running as Vitaly Denisov headed Timur Kapadze's cross over the bar before the latter diverted the former's shot just wide.

Qatar weathered the storm, however, and took the lead in the 37th minute when Siddiq's 25-yard free-kick found the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar.

Substitute Alexander Geynrikh was introduced at the break and almost made an immediate impact when he found Maksim Shatskikh with an incisive pass but the striker fired narrowly wide.

Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov was then called into action in the 53rd minute when he denied Fabio Cesar after the latter had been played in by Sebastian Quintana.

However, it proved to be a temporary respite as substitute Mohamed struck just a minute after coming on when he picked up the ball inside the area and beat four defenders before firing a left-footed shot past Nesterov.

Qatar almost added a third in the 83rd minute when substitute Khalfan Ibrahim beat Nesterov in a race to the ball after the keeper charged out of his area but smacked his shot against the crossbar.

However, Khalfan was the architect of his side's third goal when he played in Al Bloushi, who produced a smart right-foot finish.