Category: News

Iran U-17 lost against Morocco in a penalty shoot-out

In the round of 16 finals of the Under-17 World Cup at Glora Bong Tomo Stadium in Surabaya, Indonesia, Iram youth faced Morroco for a place in the quarter-final of the competition. Iran qualifies as one of the best four third-placed teams while Morocco was the head of its group with 6 points, the same as Iran,

The lenient referee from Portugal Joao Pedro Pine Rio was in charge of this battle which saw repeated fouls committed by the Moroccans.

Iran U17 was the better team throughout the first half with some good passing and runs on the flanks. However, the first half ended in a stalemate as no goals were scored.

in the 73rd minute, Yaqoub Beregeh penetrated from the right side of Iran behind the penalty area and passed the ball to Nima Anders and he sent it towards the goal with a spectacular pass. Abdi headed home to score Iran’s goal.

In the 94th minute, after a salvo of Moroccon attack and a desp[erate Iranin defending, a pass of the Moroccan midfielder reached Nasim Azzouzi in the box, The striker equalized after being clear with no direct marker as he managed to score undisturbed. The game ended 1-1, so as per the regulations of this championship, the match was decided on a penalty shootout.

The U17 performed poorly in the penalties and missed two goals including two attempts by Kasra Taheri.

Uzbekistan Tashkent

A Tale of Two Halves: Uzbekistan vs Iran, FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers

  • The beautiful and unsightly face of Team Melli displayed in the match
  • An opportunity missed by Team Melli due to discipline failure
  • Srečko Katanec proves his quality in Tashkent

Team Melli drew a match in which they were 2 goals ahead against Uzbekistan in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier in Tashkent Melliy Stadim. The match ended 2-2 draw, Ramin Rezaeian scoring the first in the 14th minute, while Taremi scored the second in the 37th in a game that was a tale of two contrasting halves.

The first half was dominated by Iran, showcasing a level of football that Team Melli hadn’t displayed in a long time. The team’s intricate passing, solid defending, and tactical discipline were commendable. The midfield was masterfully controlled by the dynamo, Saman Ghoddos, who also provided the assist for Mehdi Taremi’s second goal. The overall free-flowing football was a delight to watch.

Two well-played goals, first by Rezaeian who received a master pass from Sardar Azmoun, and then followed by Taremi doubling the lead in the 37th minute. this time by a perfectly weighted ball from Saman Ghoddis who had lots of credit as he robbed the ball before sending it to Taremi who finished masterfully.

However, the second half painted a completely different picture. It was dominated by Uzbekistan, capitalizing on the disciplinary collapse of Team Melli. The turning point was arguably the injury to the schemer, Saman Ghoddos. His replacement, Ali Karimi, failed to replicate Ghoddos’ impact on the game. The tactical discipline, especially at the back, was missing from Iran’s gameplay, and the two goals conceded were due to defensive coverage failure. The slowness of the defense was quite evident in this half.

Uzbek coach Katenec read the hand of Iran’s Ghalenoei masterfully in the second half. Implementing a pressing tactic and empowering his team with pacy and more effective players, Uzbekistan managed to score twice to settle the game. The match served as a reminder of the unpredictability of football, where fortunes can change in the blink of an eye.

One unfortunate side of Team Melli that we have been used to for years is the discipline. Mehdi Taremi and Ramin Rezaeian were masters in simulation and fake falls to a laughable degree. In particular that dive by Taremi in the box in the first half. The referee opted not to award him a yellow card despite the fact that it was a bookable offense. Another comical fall by Rezaeian on the second was even more laughable! Ghalenoei has yet to enforce his gentlemanly type of football. This is the ugly face of Team Melli that no one wants to see. This team is good enough in many aspects without the need for cheating.

Iran leads the table with four points ahead of Uzbekistan on goal difference.

Iran U-17 lineup vs Morocco

Iran’s U-17 football team will face Morocco in the Round of 16 FIFA Under-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023 today, Tuesday 21st Nov. at 15:30.

Iran’s head coach Hossein Abdi has announced the line-up for the match as following:

Arsha Shakuri, Irfan Darvish Ali, Hossam Nefri, Nima Anders, Abolfazl Zalikhai, Amir Mohammad Razzagh Nia, Abolfazl Zamani, Ismail Gholizadeh, Yaqoub Barageh, Mahan Sadeghi and Abolfazl Mordi.

The winner of this match will meet Mali which defeated Mexico 5-0 earlier on in the Round of 16 match.

Uzbekistan to host Team Melli in Tashkent

the-afc.com

Tashkent: Uzbekistan will play Iran on Tuesday in a meeting between two sides looking to establish an early advantage in Group E of the Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™.

Both opened their campaigns with resounding wins on Thursday while Hong Kong, China, and Turkmenistan will square off needing the points. 

Iran, seeking to qualify for a fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup, were in a class of their own against Hong Kong at the Azadi Stadium on Matchday One.

Sardar Azmoun led the way with a brace as Iran staked an early claim on a spot in the next round.

Uzbekistan were equally impressive, defeating Central Asian rivals Turkmenistan away as they started their campaign to make the third round after missing out on the same stage for the 2022 edition. 

Hong Kong will hope home comforts will carry them past Turkmenistan as the East Asian side look to maintain their recent momentum which saw them returning to the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1968 and qualifying for the Asian Games semi-finals for the first time.

Turkmenistan, however, will be equally desperate to get points on the board and home advantage may not be enough for Hong Kong. 

Tuesday’s fixtures
Hong Kong, China v Turkmenistan
Venue: Hong Kong Stadium (Hong Kong)
Kick-off: 20:00 (UTC+8)

Uzbekistan v Iran
Venue: Bunyodkor Stadium (Tashkent)
Kick-off: 18:00 (UTC+5)

Players rating and analysis vs. Hong Kong

Despite the four-goal margin and Team Melli’s comfortable win, the display against Hong Kong was far from comfortable or easy on the eyes.

Very little of that type of performance was new to the fans and the same mistakes and shortfalls kept occurring, which seems that these gaps have not been addressed properly. That is despite the claims of Ghalenoei who said “We are learning from our past mistakes.”. Obviously not in the Hong Kong match.

The most ominous issue is the high average age of the players which remains the most serious of problems facing the contenders of the AFC Asian Cup Title. Ghelenoei is living in denial and is adamant that his selection is not old and has no issues with the physicality or pace. In fact, the slow and aging defense is now becoming a major problem as even a team like Hong Kong could trouble the Iranian defenders as witnessed on Thursday.

Other issues:

Midfield lack of creativity: If it wasn’t for the presence of Saman Ghoddos, the so-called midfield would have been non-existent. Ghoddos, was the only player with vision and creativity with the rest being just also-rans, ordinary players.

Team-work: Generally, not pleasant, and if the rumors are true, then a division in the team between two or many factions, seems to affect the overall performance, in particular, Team Work. We hope that these rumors are not true, then again it has to be a matter of strategy and game plan by Ghalenoi and his staff who really need to work on this.

Profligacy: There were far too many wasted chances by all the forward players. Taremi was the biggest culprit as he could have been on a hat trick. Jahanbaksh, Mohebbi, and Ezatollahi were the other three players who wasted very good scoring chances

PLAYERS RATING

1 –Alireza Beiranvand: Was not troubled much and hardly tested by the Hong Kong forwards. When required, he was comfortable and safely held the ball. [7.0]

3–Ehsan Hajisafi: Less prominent than his last three appearances. His forays into attack were limited and did not venture forward much. He held back, no doubt in fear of the pacy Hong Kong counterattacks. Perhaps a wise move. [6.0]

23 Ramin Rezaeian: Continues to shine as a right back which seems to be his own property in Team Melli lately. There was little to fault his play. Scored a beautiful free kick worth winning a match on its own. Defensive work is also sound although not being put under much pressure. [8.4]

4 Shojaa Khalilzadeh: Againg and clearly short of pace. In one scene, the Hong Kong player easily beats him with a shimmy. Shojaa was unable to match his pace so he fouled the opposition player and got a yellow card for his effort. This is not the first time he has fallen into this trap in recent games. Against better teams, he will be really tested and found wanting. [5.8]

13 Hossein Kananizadegan: Quiet and uneventful match for the central defender. His coordination with Khalilzadeh is not at the level that it should be. In the tougher matches that could create gaps. [6.3]

6 Saeid Ezzatolahi: No matter how hard he tried, he was lost and poor in all aspects of the game. Bad passing, poor tacking, missed a rare scoring opportunity from nearly a meter from the goal line, poor marking, and the list goes on. Ezzatolahi should be nowhere near Team Melli with such form. Much better options are available, only if Ghalenoei opens his eyes and looks around without the blinds and bias [3.6]

14. Saman Ghoddos: Started a game for the first time in a long time and he was brilliant. This is the type of player that Team Melli needs in the middle of the field, intelligent passing, vision, enthusiasm, work rate, and style were all evident in his play. Ghoddos seems to never complete 90 minutes in any game for as long as one remembers. Whatever the problem here, it must be sorted out. Overall, an excellent performance by the Brentford midfielder. [9.0]

 19 Mohammad Mohebi: Another disappointing performance from the Rostov player. A much better standard is expected from him, however, his contribution and assist in the first goal were of high quality. His clash with Taremi in the box when both went for an overhead kick was embarrassing [6.5]

9 Mehdi Taremi: Scored one goal and provided one assist. That was the highlight of an untypical poor performance from a player who the fans expect much from him. Taremi’s body language is far from assuring too. He is just not clicking. It might not be a big worry from Team Melli’s point of view as a competent and sharp Azmoun can finish the work, but Taremi is needed and whatever bothers him needs to be sorted out. Proper counseling from expertise, is always a big boost. His Porto performance this season is at the same poor form too and that might be affecting him in Team Melli. [6.9]

20 Sardar Azmoun: Exellect all over and the MVP of the game. Scored two opportunistic goals with the sharpness and accuracy of a true professional and provided one assist for Taremi’s goal. That earned him the MVP. He could have scored a hattrick but for his unselfishness, he opted to pass to Taremi who was off-side and spoiled a real setter. Azmoun has now scored 49 goals in 74 matches for Team Melli.  [9.2]

7 Alireza Jahanbakhsh: The Feyenoord winger is perhaps in the same boat as Taremi. He continues his poor run for club and country. Really disappointing against Hong Kong and had zero contribution to the goals, His wild shots at goal were a sign of desperation. Got himself injured as well and will be setting the next match vs Uzbekistan out. Lack of confidence, hesitancy, inability to create chances for the forwards, and many more shortfalls marred his game against Hong Kong and reminds one of a similar performance against Jordan.  [4.5]

Substitutes

Mehdi Torabi: Replaced Mohebbi in the 70th minute.Had a rather quiet game and an uneventful 20 minutes. [6.0]

Omid Ebrahimi: Replaced Saman Ghoddos in the 70th minute. There was no obvious reason for such a substitution as Ghoddos was doing an excellent job in the middle of the field. Ebrahimi, now 37 years old, lacks much of his old pace and frankly, he is not suited to play at the international level. But it seems that he has the vote of Ghalenoei.[5.8]

Reza Asadi: Took Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s place in the 74th minute and he soon faded in the match. Did not see much action in the 16 minutes he was on the field. [5.0]

Karim Nsarifard and Javad Hosseinnejad had cameo appearances and were not rated.


Coach: Amir Ghalenoei: His attitude toward rejuvenating the team and his insistence on older and slower players has lowered his worth amongst the fans and pundits alike. In this match, the introduction of a 37-year-old player at the twilight of his career while a 20-year-old player with a bright future was available, was an act of absurdity and silliness. Ghalenoei was not pleased with his players’ profligacy. The TV cameras caught him shouting quite angrily at his player. He has yet to forge his tactical ideas on this group. Team Melli is not firing on all cylinders, and he needs to act. [5.5] 

Alireza Jahanbakhsh is out due to injury.

There was some bad news for Team Melli winger, Alireza Jahanbakhsh following the match against Hong Kong on Thursday.

After a loose ball clash, Jahanbakhsh was visibly in pain due to a leg injury and was subsequently substituted, In the post-match therapy, the Feyenoord winger was withdrawn from Team Melli camp and will proceed to the Netherlands to continue the diagnosis and treatment.
The media department of Team Melli, Dr. Prahan Khanleri, the Chief Medical Officer of the team, said that Alireza Jahanbakhsh has suffered a slight hamstring injury during last night’s match against Hong Kong, and accordingly, for treatment of this injury, he has to be out of action for at least two weeks rest period. He added: With the decision made, Jahanbakhsh will leave for Holland on Sunday to treat his injury, so it is not possible for this player to join the group for the match against Uzbekistan.
Team Melli defeated Hong Kong 4-0 in the first match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers on Thursday evening.

Iran advances after routine New Caledonia win

Iran booked their spot in the FIFA U-17 World Cup knockout phase for a fourth time following a 5-0 win over New Caledonia.

FIFA

IR Iran 5-0 New Caledonia | Group C

Goals: Amir Mohammad Razaghinia (17, 34), Reza Ghandipour (76), Mohammad Askari (90+6), Kasra Taheri (90+8)

Player of the Match: Amir Mohammad Razaghinia (IRN)

Iran ensured their progress to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™ knockout phase after a routine 5-0 win over New Caledonia.

The Iranians laid siege on the New Caledonia goal from the off but it took them 17 minutes to open the scoring, as Mahan Sadeghi crossed for Amirmohammad Razaghinia to head home. The midfielder doubled his tally in the 34th minute after reacting quickest to a loose ball inside the area, but only after Esmaeil Gholizadeh had struck the post from the penalty spot.

New Caledonia, to their credit, held firm after the restart and were not breached again until the 76th minute, when Reza Ghandipour found the net with a powerful header.

A fourth goal – which took New Caledonia to a record-breaking 23 goals conceded at the tournament – followed in added time, when Mohammad Askari lashed home. Number five came just two minutes later, as Kasra Taheri slotted beyond Nicolas Kutran after breaking through on goal with a cleaver dribble of his marker.

FINAL STANDING
GROUP C

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1 England3201133106
2 Brazil320113496
3 Iran32019456
4 New Caledonia3003024-240

Noorollahi kicked out of Team Melli camp

Team Melli and Al Wehda midfield player, Ahmad Noorollahi, was ejected from the national team camp a few minutes ago according to an official announcement from the Football Federation.

The media department of the national team announced that Ahmed Nooralahi had been expelled from the camp. On follow-up, it appears that the reason for Noorollahi’s expulsion from the camp that has played Hong Kong and will meet Uzbekistan next was of a disciplinary nature.

Ghalenoei, called 30 players for this camp, but FIFA and competition regulations will allow only 23 players to be registered for the match. When Noorollahi realized that he was not on the list of the final 23, he refused to join the rest of the excluded players and left the group without the approval of team management. This resulted in his expulsion from the camp as the midfielder will not make the trip to Tashkent for the Uzbekistan game.

This is not the first time that a Team Melli player has been recently disciplined for misdemeanor and unprofessional conduct. A player like Noorollahi who plays professionally in a foreign league quite simply ignores the most basic of the rules and that is respect for decisions made by the hierarchy.

It is difficult to see Noorollahi, being part of Iran’s squad for the AFC Asian Cup early next year, unless that usual Iranian tradition where the guilty person shows remorse, visits the head coach with a flower bouquet and kisses cheek to cheek, and then all is forgotten!

Winning start for Team Melli in World Cup qualifiers.

Team Melli defeated Hong Kong 4-0 in Azadi on Thursday evening in the first match of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. Sardar Amoun scored two goals while Mehdi Taremi and Ramin Rezaeian scored the other two.

Despite the good margin of victory against a lowly Hong Kong ranked 150th in the world, Team Melli was far from convincing and at times even embarrassing. The two late goals in the second half added some respectability to the result but that should not hide the fact that Ghalenoei has a lot of work to do to build a respectable team for the World Cup in 3 years’ time. Although Iran is one of the favorite for the AFC Asian Cup, such performance with an aging team puts a lot of question marks on this claim.

Iran started positively and through a good assist by Mohebbi courtesy of Capt. Hajsafi’s perseverance, Azmoun cooly slotted the ball into the net in the 12th minute. Two minutes later, Azmoun struck again from a similar situation from a Mehdi Taremi pass into the box. After that, thinking that the Hong Kong floodgate has opened the players started show acting to entertain the small crowd in Azadi. This showtime act, was at times quite embarrassing to watch. Mohebbi and Taremi both went for the same ball on the 6-yard line, both going for overhead kick, resulting in Taremi’s boot whacking Mohebbi;s head with the ball nowhere to be seen.

Wrong passes, uncoordinated moves, lethargy and taking it easy marred the rest of the half for Iran. Hong Kong on the other hand managed to close the path of Team Melli player with numbers and pressing tactics.

In the second half , it was Hong Kong who were determined to score and nearly managed that. Iran’s defense held tight and managed to survive until two late goals sealed the match for the home team.

This is the 9th victory for Amir Ghalenoei, a record that would be the envy of any coach in the world. It is also Ghalenoei’s first win in an official match, however, this team and Ghalenoi himself is far from convincing. His stubbornness in using older players like Omid Ebrahimi (37 years) and Karim Ansarifard (34 years) , is a serious setback for Iran’s football and Team Melli and such pig-headed attitude will come back and haunt him.

Despite what he said yesterday in his pre-match press conference about learning from mistakes, it is doubtful that he seriously means it. This current team may beat the likes of Angola, Hong Kong, Jordan all teams ranked below Team Melli, but the real test will come soon, in fact in 5 days from now when Iran faces the much-improved Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

Man of the Match: Sardar Azmoun.

Iran v Hong Kong Head2Head

Team Melli will start its campaign in the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a home game in Group E of the Asian Zone qualifiers against Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan will be hosting Uzbekistan in Ashgabad half an hour earlier in the second match of the four-team group.

Team Melli has a 100% record against Chinese Hong Kong as it has never dropped a point in their 6 matches. The first encounter between the two in 1968 was in Amjadieh Stadium when Hong Kong was one of the better Asian Teams while Iran had a young ambitious and powerful team. Team Melli ended up lifting the Asian trophy for the first time and defeating Hong Kong 2-0 in the run for the championship, the goals being scored by the two young and upcoming stars, Homayoun Behzadi and Ali Jabbari.

It took Hong Kong 47 years to manage some success against Iran and that was in Bahrain in 2021 in the same competition when the Far Eastern team managed to score the only goal against Iran in 6 previous meeting.

That is as far as one can call success of the Chinese against one of the powerful teams of Asia.

This time, it will be one of the same, however, Hong Kong has never been a minnow in Asian Football. It has a rich tradition and has been playing top level football with a professionally organized league foe over half a century. Hong Kong will certainly make Team Melli work hard and goals will not be scored easily.

Ghalenoei will stick to the tried and trusted and most probably will start Azmoun and Taremi up front as the center forwards while Jahanbakhsh, Mohebbi will work the flanks and Ezzatollahi and Nourollahi be the holding midfielders. There is a good chance that Ghoddos will replace one of the two. Ezzatollahi and Nourollahi have been the weakest performers in the Team and frankly one wonders if there are footballing reasons for them to be regular starters while several young and upcoming players could very well be given the chance to perform at this level of competition.
Ghalenoei, however, has made it quite clear that is not a believer in youth energy for Team Melli at this time. Although he does occasionally praise the ability and quality off young players even selects a few, for good measure, and let them experience cameo appearances quite late in the games. And that is as far as it goes.

Despite the aging back four, it is probably the most reliable of the 4 lines. However, lack of pace and confusion has been known to occur in this line as well. Beiranvand has not been the start that he was a few years back. Niazmand at this time is a better keeper, but Ghalenoei may prefer the experience of the Persepolis keeper on the skill of agility of Sepahan;s gate keeper.

Taremi is experiencing a soft patch in the last few weeks with Porto. He has been profligate and not the sharp goal scorer of last season. Hong Kong defenders, however, will have a tough time containing him.

In contrast, Azmoun, has been at the top of his game lately and that first header goal he scored for his club, was world class. Another source of trouble for Hong Kong defenders.

Head to Head Iran v. Hong Kong

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