Iran squandered two more penalty kicks at the 2nd West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship in Syria on Tuesday but it didn't prove too costly for the defending champions as they advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Lebanon.

The Iranians went into the final Group A match at the Abbassiyyine Stadium in Damascus needing a victory to ensure qualification for the last four after their surprise 1-0 loss to Jordan on Friday.

They appeared to have got off to the best possible after just four minutes when Said Lofti was fouled by Lebanon goalkeeper Zayed Ali Lel Samad to earn Iran their second penalty of the tournament.

Striker Ali Karimi had missed a crucial penalty against the Jordanians in the opening match so spot-kicking duties were handed over to the experienced Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh. However, Bakhtiarizadeh also wasted his opportunity as he fired his effort wide of the right post.

Despite that setback, Iran continued to attack and they finally went ahead in the 24th minute as Ali Karimi squared a free kick to Alireza Vahedinikbakht who fired a low dipping shot from 25 yards inside the right hand post.

Nine minutes into the second half, Karimi was barged over in the Lebanon penalty box to give Iran their second penalty of the match. The 23-year-old striker stepped up to take the kick himself but his soft effort was easily stopped by the Lebanese goalie as the Iranians incredibly squandered a penalty kick for the third time in the tournament.

Karimi did make up for that miss though with a late second goal. With Lebanon desperately pushing forward in search of an equaliser in injury time, Javad Kazemeyan broke down the right wing on the counterattack and cut the ball across the Lebanon box to Karimi, who bundled the ball home from close range to make it 2-0.

With the win, Iran finished second in Group A behind Jordan and will meet the top-ranked team in Group B in the semi-finals on Thursday. Hosts Syria and Iraq clashed later on Tuesday to decide first place in Group B.

With Iran, Jordan, Iraq and Syria through to the semi-finals, the last four lineup at this year's tournament will be the same as it was at the inaugural WAFF Championship in Jordan in 2000.