Phan Thanh Binh gave the home side the lead in the 32nd minute after a handling error by Mohamed Saqr but the Uruguay-born Quintana, who had also netted in the draw with Japan on Monday, scored a deserved equaliser late on to keep alive Qatar’s hopes of reaching the last eight.

Despite failing to hold on for the win, Vietnam remained top of Group B with four points, two ahead of the Qataris.

Once again, there was a capacity crowd at My Dinh National Stadium, eager to see their side build on their 2-0 win over United Arab Emirates in their opening match.

However, it was the Gulf side that dominated early on as the Qatari forward line of Waleed Jassim and Sebastian Quintana put the Vietnamese goal under heavy pressure in the opening half-hour.

Goalkeeper Duong Hong Son was kept busy, coming off his line quickly in the fifth minute to gather the ball as it was played through to Quintana.

On 20 minutes, Quintana received the ball on the edge of the Vietnamese box after it had been deflected to him off Nguyen Huy Hoang and fired in a hard low shot that forced Hong Son to go down low to his right to save.

The Song Lam Nghe An keeper did even better just before the half-hour as Quintana surged into the Vietnamese box, outpacing Vu Nhu Thanh before unleashing a low left-footed drive that Hong Son dived low to his left to parry away magnificently.

Vietnam were able to generate little until a calamitous error by goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr in the 32nd minute presented them with the lead.

Phan Thanh Binh received the ball from Le Cong Vinh on the edge of the box and turned a defender on the edge of the box before firing in a shot from 20 metres that appeared unlikely to cause much trouble for Saqr.

But the Al Sadd keeper misjudged the bounce and allowed the ball to bobble under his body, rolling agonisingly out of his reach and over the line.

Spurred on by the goal, the Vietnamese picked up their game and very nearly increased their  advantage three minutes later when Thanh Binh fired in another low shot that went just wide of the right post.

Qatar were still creating the better chances though and Hong Son was called into action again to punch clear Meshal Mubarak’s speculative shot from 30 metres.

In stoppage time at the end of the half, Waleed Jasim ran onto a fine through pass played over the top of the Vietnamese defence by Wesam Rizik but lobbed his effort over the crossbar.

Qatar continued to exert much of the pressure in the second half and Hong Son was called into action again in the 52nd minute to stop Waleed Jasim’s curling free kick from 25 metres, holding on to the ball as three Qatari players looked to pounce.

Shortly afterwards, Saad Al Shammari floated in a cross that was headed harmlessly over by Abdulla Koni with two teammates waiting in a better position behind him.

Magid Mohammed then went within inches of an equaliser as he received the ball on the left side of the box following a corner and fired in a shot with the outside of his right boot that bounced off the far post. Quintana gathered the loose ball off the rebound but shot wide.

Most of Vietnam’s efforts in the second half were on the counter attack, Phung Van Nhien curling an effort narrowly wide after surging into the Qatari box and Cong Vinh firing across the face of goal after winning possession off Mostafa Abdulla.

Qatari pressure finally paid off in the 79th minute when a low shot by substitute Ali Afef deflected off a Vietnamese defender and looped up towards the six-yard box where an onrushing Quintana powered in to head the ball home.

The Middle Eastern side turned up the pressure in the closing minutes with Ali Afef heading wide in the 82nd minute and then hitting the underside of the crossbar two minutes later after he was found unmarked in the box by Quintana.

With time running out, Seyd Bechir and Mostafa Abdulla also headed off target before Majadi Siddiq shot wide with the final effort of the game.