Hong Kong's footballers gave regional giants Iran a tough test in Qatar early on Saturday morning, eventually ending up on the end of a 1-0 defeat to the three-time Asian champions.

The SAR's men – playing at their first Asian Cup in more than 55 years – had opportunities early on, especially when Brazil-born forward Everton Camargo blazed over the bar from inside the box.

Iran took the lead in the 24th minute when Mehdi Ghayedi slid a shot across the six-yard box and past the despairing grasp of goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai, the ball nestling in the bottom-right corner.

The missed chances continued to pile up for Hong Kong, who occasionally had Iran rattled in front of 36,412 at the Khalifa International Stadium that included a noisy contingent of SAR supporters.

Philip Chan, who scored in the very same net in Hong Kong's opening-game loss to United Arab Emirates, sliced a gilt-edged opportunity after some haphazard Iran defending.

Yapp saved well from a Shahriyar Moghanloo header, before referee Hanna Hattab brought an end to an unexpectedly even first half.

After watching his side fail to lay a glove on Iran after the restart, Hong Kong coach Jorn Andersen made an attacking triple substitution, sending on forwards Stefan Pereira and Michael Udebuluzor along with midfielder Wong Wai.

But the score remained unchanged, Ramin Rezaeian and Karim Ansarifard both missing chances to extend Iran's lead before the 90 minutes were up.

Hong Kong now can't finish in the top two of Group C, but can give themselves an outside chance of a place in the second round as one of the best third-placed teams if they can beat Palestine in their final match on Tuesday. (RTHK/AFP)