KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia made yet another early exit in World Cup qualifying despite a 3-1 win over lowly Taiwan at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday night.
It was just not enough as world No. 138 Malaysia needed to beat World No. 159 Taiwan by at least eight goals, and hope that Oman beat Kyrgyzstan by two or more goals in the other Group D match three hours later.
Coach Kim Pan Gon made one change to his first 11, bringing in midfielder Safawi Rasid for Stuart Wilkin, who had started in the 1-1 draw against Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek, last week.
Pan Gon also pushed up skipper Dion Cools, who usually plays in defence, to join the attack with Paulo Josue and Akhyar Rashid.
Harimau Malaya showed attacking intent, but struggled to break down the stubborn Taiwanese defence who looked comfortable, and also dangerous with counter-attacks.
And on a breakaway that caught the high Malaysian defensive line, Taiwan's Yu Yao Hsing stunned the hosts in the 20th minute after outrunning defenders Dominic Tan and Safwan Mazlan to score past goalkeeper Azri Ghani.
In the second half, Pan Gon brought in the Argentine-born attacking midfielder Sergio Aguero for defender Matthew Davies, and Malaysia started to look better.
The Malaysian fightback began with Safawi Rasid's equaliser in the 53rd minute while the Brazilian-born Josue put Malaysia ahead in the 69th.
Pan Gon then brought in defender Adib Raop and striker Haqimi Azim Rosli for the tiring Akhyar and Safawi. He also handed Engku Nur Shakir Engku Yacob his first cap after taking off Endrick Dos Santos.
Adib, making his second appearance for the national team, scored deep into added time to make it 3-1.
Despite ending their final group match as winners, Malaysia were eliminated from the second round of World Cup qualifying after collecting only 10 points from six matches. Oman have 12 points from five matches, and Kyrgyzstan, 10 points from five matches.