Hong Jeong-Hos early goal gave South Korea a 1-0 win over war-torn Syria on Tuesday to put their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track.

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China-based Hong struck in the fourth minute but it was an unconvincing margin of victory for the Koreans, who were upset 1-0 by China last week.

Uli Stielike's men remain well placed at second in Group A with three games to go. The top two qualify automatically for next year's World Cup in Russia.