Draw takes Shabab Al Ahli into Asian Champions League last 16

Shabab Al Ahli booked their place in the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw with Iran's Foolad in Jeddah earned the club from the United Arab Emirates a last 16 spot.

Yahya Al Ghassani scored eight minutes from time to cancel out Luciano Chimba's 71st minute penalty and the point earned means Shabab Al Ahli finish in second place in Group C behind Foolad.

The five group winners in west Asia advance to the next round automatically, where they are joined by the three clubs with the best runners-up records and Shabab Al Ahli's 10-point haul guarantees them one of those second placed slots.

Tuesday's results also mean Qatar's Al Rayyan and Al Faisaly of Saudi Arabia advance to the next round before their final round of group games on Wednesday.

Al Faisaly, who currently lead Group E, are guaranteed to take at least one of the runners-up spots after amassing nine points from their first five games while Al Rayyan's tally of 10 points in Group A is also enough to advance.

The trio join Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal and Al Shabab as well as Al Duhail from Qatar, who had already secured their places in the last 16 prior to the final round of group matches.

The round of 16 matches involving teams from west Asia will be played in February next year.

Foolad topped Group C with 12 points while Qatar's Al Gharafa finished third in the standings despite enduring a 4-2 loss against Turkmenistan side Ahal in the final round of matches.

In Group B, Iraqi side Air Force Club were denied the opportunity to progress to the last 16 as runners-up behind Al Shabab when a 1-0 loss against Mumbai City meant they fell short of a place in the knockout rounds.

Air Force went into the game needing to win to advance but