Three-time champions Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Uzbekistan secured qualification for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup on Tuesday to leave only a handful of places at the finals in Australia available.

Iran emphatically beat Lebanon 4-1 in Beirut to qualify from Group B alongside Kuwait, while Oman progressed from Group A after recording a last-gasp 1-0 win over Syria.

And with Qatar and 2011 semi-finalists Uzbekistan posting away wins over Malaysia and Hong Kong, only three places will be available when the qualifiers resume next year after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain qualified last week.

Defending champions Japan, hosts Australia, Korea Republic and DPR Korea had already secured qualification prior to the start of the qualifiers, while the winners of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup will complete the 16-team line-up for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup which will be held from January 9-31.

And unbeaten Iran, who won the title in 1968, 1972 and 1976, confirmed their place thanks to goals from Amirhossein Sadeghi, Askhan Dejagah, AFC Player of the Year nominee Javad Nekounam and Reza Ghoochannejhad at Sports City Stadium in Beirut.

"Lebanon played well and they deserved a better result as they were fighting throughout the match." said Iran coach Carlos Quieroz, who also guided his side to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

"However, we were the better side and we knew how to score goals in order to secure the three points."

And unbeaten 1980 champions Kuwait completed the qualification picture in Group B with a 3-1 home win over Thailand thanks to two goals from Yousef Nasser against Thailand.

"Despite the good victory today and securing our place in the Asian Cup finals, we still have a lot of things to achieve as the qualification is only the start for a good campaign," said Kuwait coach Jorvan Vieira.

"We have enough time now to prepare the team for the Asian Cup finals and we will be putting a good plan in order to prepare the team well to be one of the top competing teams in the final competition."

Oman, meanwhile, sealed a return to the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 2007 as Eid Al Farsi scored a minute into injury time to secure a 1-0 win over Syria in Group A.

Syria remain in the qualification picture, but Jordan can advance with victory over Oman in January having missed the last two rounds of qualifiers due to their 2014 FIFA World Cup play-off against Uruguay.

"I am very happy with my team's qualification to finals of the Asian Cup in Australia. From now on, we have to prepare the team for the final showpiece in Australia," said Oman coach Paul Le Guen after seeing his side extend their unbeaten record in Group A.

"I confess today we didn't play very well. On the other side, Syria were very highly motivated and playing against them was no easy game for us."

Qatar booked their place at a fifth consecutive AFC Asian Cup after qualifying from Group D alongside Bahrain as a 65th minute strike from substitute Abdulkareem Al Ali secured a 1-0 win for the 2011 quarter-finalists over Malaysia.

"The result was as expected. We came here with the intent to win and we are happy that we achieved that goal," said Qatar coach Fahad Thani after seeing his side remain within a point of group leaders Bahrain, who recorded a 2-0 win over Yemen having secured qualification last week.

Finally, Uzbekistan needed late goals from Vokhid Shodiev and Odil Ahmedov to beat 10-man Hong Kong 2-0 to advance from Group E alongside the UAE.

"Every win helps us to be stronger and become more powerful and of course we are happy to have qualified for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia," said coach Mirdjalal Kasimov after overseeing Uzbekistan's sixth consecutive appearance at the AFC Asian Cup.

"We will do our best in Australia and try and do better than we did in Qatar. We always aim big and we always try to achieve our goals."

Despite sealing their qualification last week, the UAE recorded a comprehensive 5-0 win over 10-man Vietnam to maintain their 100% record in Group E.

Elsewhere, China missed out on securing a 11th consecutive AFC Asian Cup appearance after being held to a goalless draw by Group C winners Saudi Arabia as Iraq kept their hopes alive with a 2-0 win over Indonesia in Jakarta.

China remained second with a two point cushion over Iraq, but the 2004 finalists must now avoid defeat against the 2007 champions in March to secure their passage to Australia.

Should Iraq win, China could still qualify for the finals with one place available for the best third-place finisher from across all five groups.

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