June 14 – Iran became the second team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup as they defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 in Tehran with goals from Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi.
In Group A of Asia’s third round of World Cup qualifying Iran required just one more victory to qualify for next year’s showpiece event and the charges of Carlos Queiroz did not disappoint as they dominated proceedings against their visitors from Uzbekistan.
Azmoun opened the scoring in the first half, latching on to Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s through ball and Taremi sealed the all-important three points two minutes from time. With the win, Iran opened up an eight-point advantage over their opponents, who are third in the table.
Iran join five-time winners Brazil and hosts Russia at next year’s tournament. At the 2014 World Cup Iran gathered just a point from games with Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia and Herzegovina to finish bottom of group F.
With Iran through to Russia, Group A has become a three-way battle for the remaining automatic qualifying spot. Second-placed South Korea, however, failed to extend their cushion on Uzbekistan and Syria, losing 3-2 in Qatar. Hassan Al Haydos scored twice and set up another as he kept Qatar’s slim hopes to grab a play-off spot alive.
China conceded a stoppage-time goal in a 2-2 draw with Syria. The result maintains Syria’s contention for a qualifying spot, but condemned China to the bottom of the group with their international ambitions further dented.
In Group B competition for tickets to Russia is also tight, with Japan leading both Australia and Saudi Arabia by just a point. On Friday the Socceroos came out on top against Saudi Arabia in a five-goal thriller, a result which moved them level with the Saudis on points. The Australians subsequently lost in a friendly against Brazil 0-4, but they will be less bothered by that result. Japan top the group but struggled away to Iraq, already eliminated, drawing 1-1 with Mahdi Kamil scoring the equalizer for Iraq.
The United Arab Enirates drew 1-1 in Thailand and the disappointing result severely dented their ambitions of going to Russia. They trail both Saudi Arabia and Australia by six points. The top two teams in each of Asia’s two qualifying groups progress to the World Cup, while the teams in third place go into a series of play-offs.
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