Tag: Iran

Seeding for AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ Final Draw confirmed

the-afc.com

Kuala Lumpur: The seeding for the highly-anticipated AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ Final Draw, which will take place on May 11, 2023, 2:00pm (local time), in Doha, Qatar, has now been confirmed following the release of the latest FIFA World Ranking.

As with the previous editions of Asia’s crown jewel, Qatar have been allocated the first position in Pot 1 ahead of the draw to be held at the Katara Opera House to ensure that the host nation commences the tournament with the opening match scheduled for January 12, 2024.
Joining the hosts and defending champions in Pot 1 are the teams ranked from second to sixth in Asia in the latest FIFA Ranking namely, four-time winners Japan, three-time champions Iran, two-time winners Korea Republic, 2015 champions Australia and Saudi Arabia who will be aiming to claim their fourth Continental crown.
Pot 2 will comprise 2007 champions Iraq, 2019 hosts the United Arab Emirates, Oman, 2011 semi-finalist Uzbekistan, and two-time runners-up China PR and Jordan.
Meanwhile, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Vietnam, Kyrgyz Republic and Lebanon will take their places in Pot 3, while India, debutants Tajikistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia will complete the line-up in Pot 4.
Similar to the expanded 2019 edition in the United Arab Emirates, the 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four teams each across Groups A to F, with the top two and four best third-placed teams advancing into the final 16 of the competition before the Asian champions are crowned on February 10, 2024.
Some of the most iconic names of Asian football are expected to grace the Final Draw as Draw Assistants with the Head Coaches from the 24 teams also poised to be in attendance.
Final Seeding for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Draw
Pot 1: Qatar (hosts), Japan, Iran, Korea Republic, Australia, Saudi Arabia
Pot 2: Iraq, UAE, Oman, Uzbekistan, China PR, Jordan
Pot 3: Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Vietnam, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon
Pot 4: India, Tajikistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia

FIFA Ranking : No changes in AFC teams

Iran remained the second team in Asia after leaders Japan in the latest ranking published by FIFA yesterday.

With one win and a draw on FIFA Day in March, Iran closed the gap very slightly with Japan which solidly occupies the top place despite losing 4.5 points. South Korea, Australia, and Saudi Arabia follow next.

 

RK
Team
Total Points
Previous Points
+/-
Positions
20
Japan
 Japan
1588.59
 1593.08 -4.49
24
IR Iran
 Iran
1553.23
 1551.73 1.50
27
Korea Republic
 Korea Republic
1536.01
 1539.49 -3.48
29
Australia
 Australia
1532.79
 1533.97 -1.18
54
Saudi Arabia
 Saudi Arabia
1421.46
 1438.13 -16.67
61
Qatar
 Qatar
1388.61
 1393.56 -4.95
67
Iraq
 Iraq
1347.84
 1342.39 5.45
72
United Arab Emirates
 United Arab Emirates
1336.28
 1338.48 -2.20
73
Oman
 Oman
1333.54
 1321.24 12.30
74
Uzbekistan
 Uzbekistan
1318.36
 1312.64 5.72

 

Iran routs Japan in the finals of AFC beach Soccer Asian Cup 2023

Pattaya: Iran were at their awesome best as they defeated Japan 6-0 in the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup™ Thailand 2023 final at the Jomtien Beach Arena on Sunday.
The win saw Iran draw level with Japan on three titles each, with both teams now casting their eyes on preparing for the FIFA Beach Soccer World UAE 2023 in November.
It was a tense start with neither team allowing the other space but it was Iran who had the first look on goal with Amir Akbari sending his overhead kick just above the bar.
Despite Japan’s man-marking, Iran scored the opening goal in spectacular fashion when Movahed Mohammadpour collected a long pass from keeper Seyedmahdi Mirjajili before finishing acrobatically in the fourth minute.
Japan struggled to find their footing and suffered another setback in the eighth minute with Mirjajili the orchestrator again when he set up Ali Mirshekari for another acrobatic finish leaving Shinya Shibamoto well beaten.
Three-time champions Japan came alive in the 11h minute with Takaaki Oba threatening with an overhead effort before Shibamoto’s long-range drive forced a fingertip save from Mirjajili.
Japan were missing the attacking play which had seen them breeze to the final and had no answer to Iran’s aggression when they conceded again in the 20th minute after Mirjajili’s throw was deflected by Movahed to an unmarked Moslem Mesigar to slam the ball home.
The East Asian side almost found a way through with Takuya Akaguma seeing his shot graze the bar before Ozu skied his free-kick in the closing stages, leaving them with a mountain to climb heading into the break.
Iran piled more misery on Japan in the 29th minute when Shibamoto was dispossessed in his own area by Mohammadali Mokhtari before slotting home the fourth into an empty goalmouth.
Iran furthered their advantage in the 35th minute following an own goal by Japan’s Kosuke Matsuda before Mirshekari added the sixth with seconds left on the clock to seal the win and clinch their third title.

Russia negotiating with UEFA and FIFA on their future.

The Russian Football Union (RFU) is negotiating with FIFA and UEFA to retain eligibility to participate in competitions with friendlies already lined up.

The Russian team will play a friendly match against Iran in Tehran on March 23 and are also due to face Iraq on March 26 in the city of Saint Petersburg.

They will also be participating in the Championship of the Central Asian Football Association, which will involve Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, and is due to be held from June 9 to 21 in Bishkek and Tashkent.

FIFA and UEFA were both on the list of sports associations that banned the Russians for the invasion of Ukraine on February 21 2022.

The ban was imposed exactly one week later on February 28.

The Russian national team was due to face Poland in a qualifier for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, with the winner going on to face Sweden for a spot in the finals, but the ban took effect before the match and Poland got a pass through the round.

Russia were disqualified from the 2022 World Cup when they were two wins away from claiming a spot ©Getty Images
Russia were disqualified from the 2022 World Cup when they were two wins away from claiming a spot ©Getty Images

 

Since the ban, the Russian national football team have participated in three friendlies, defeating Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in Bishkek and drawing with Tajikistan in Dushanbe and Uzbekistan in Tashkent, with both matches ending goalless.

Denis Rogachev, the RFU deputy secretary general, spoke on the current state of the national team in a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports.

“The activity of the national team is not frozen,” Rogachev said, as reported by Russia’s official state news agency TASS.

“It has suffered greatly, we do not experience a flow of people who want to play with us. This is a very difficult negotiation process, negotiations are underway to participate in the Championship of the Central Asian Football Association in June. We have retained corporate rights to participate in FIFA and UEFA, but we are negotiating with colleagues about a phased return to competition.”

“I can’t add anything new. ”

The RFU had an appeal to return to FIFA and UEFA rejected by the CAS in May 2022 ©Getty Images
The RFU had an appeal to return to FIFA and UEFA rejected by the CAS in May 2022 ©Getty Images

“A working group has been created, a negotiation process is underway with UEFA and FIFA on a phased return. “A FIFA Congress was held in Africa, and there will be elections of the UEFA President, which we will attend.

“The process of restoring our rights as a priority option provides for keeping us in European football, but all scenarios are being considered.” The RFU attempted to appeal to overturn the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but failed to meet the deadline for the filing of the complaint. The CAS already rejected the return of Russia to tournaments in May 2022 after a majority vote by members on the matter.

The 2018 World Cup hosts will be looking to return to international competitions, as well as competitions for their club teams such as the UEFA Champions League.

Yet another failure for Iran Javanan team. Iran U20 out of the competition.

Iran’s Javanan team (U20) lost to Iraq 1-0 in the quarter-final game of the AFC Asian U20 Cup 2023 in Uzbekistan. The team also lost the chance to qualify for the FIFA World Cup U20 to be held in Indonesia later this year.

In a scruffy match that had no resemblance to modern football but much more like street football, both teams pulled back and did not attempt to attack the opposition. The first half did not register a single shot on target by both teams.

The fear of conceding and losing dominated the mentality of both teams in the second half too, with the match suffering from this poor attitude. It was clear that both teams were content with playing out a goalless draw to try their luck in a penalty shootout. The lethargic match was dragging on and being an eye sore for the few fans in the stadium but was temporarily set alive in the 71st minute when Iraq’s keeper saved beautifully from a fine free-kick by Iran’s forward Hosseinzadeh. That was the first and only shot on target registered by the Iranians during the whole match.

In the dying minutes, a shambolic and totally embarrassing Iranian defense was easily penetrated by the Iraqi forward, Sajjad who shot hurriedly toward the goal, while three Iran defenders surrounded him. His shot was towards the far corner of Iran keeper Zarei who stood watching the ball roll past him into the net!! Serious failure of defense has been witnessed many times in this tournament.

It was all that Iraq needed and the sudden last-minute highly emotional Iranian awakening came to nothing as the Iraqis held firm and celebrated wildly after the referee’s whistle for qualifying for the finals of the FIFA U20 World Cup.

The less said about the match, the better as it was only an ugly, amateurish performance by both teams which was a bad advert for Asian youth football.

Despite all the handicaps that the Iranian team had way before the tournament started, Samad Marfavi is guilty of a lack of courage and tactical enterprise. Technically speaking, there was very little expected from Marfavi, a modest also-ran coach whose achievements in his coaching career come to zero. However, he could have for at least one important game, changed the mentality of his team, and encouraged them to be winners. His lack of courage, his ineffective coaching, his failure to identify gaps in the team, and his lack of influence were all factors in this defeat. Yes, without a doubt, a more qualified and competent coach would have made a change in this team that is no short of individual skills.

 Not that Iraq is any better than Iran nor is it a formidable team, however, they were better coached and managed defensively under their head coach Emad Mohammad knowing, a man who is very well familiar with Iranian football and its weaknesses.  The ex-Sepahan Esfahan player was victorious despite the lackluster performance in this match and that is what counts.

After 47 years of failures, Iran Javan has to wait another two years for another shot for the title. Frankly, under such a federation management, a group of modest below-par domestic coaches, and a lack of international exposure, it will be hardly unlikely that Iran U20 will do anything better soon.

No doubt, Samad Marfavi, will have a bag full of excuses and justifications while cursing that good old luck, however, he is better off practicing his trade at the lower-division teams in Iran. Unfortunately, after many years in coaching, he has yet to taste success.

2023 AFC Asian Cup to kick off in January 2024!

DOHA, March 1 ) —  AFC Asian Cup  2023 the 18th edition of the continent’s premier tournament will be held from January 12th to February 10th, 2024 in Qatar, the Qatar Football Association (QFA) announced on Tuesday. Qatar is the defending champion.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in China from 16 June to 16 July 2023. On 14 May 2022, the AFC announced that China would not host the tournament due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s Zero-COVID policy.

The QFA also announced the establishment of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the AFC Asian Cup, and its president Ahmed Al-Thani was named as the chairman of the LOC.

In October 2022, Qatar was awarded by AFC to host the tournament, which has 24 participating teams.

The draw for the group stages will be announced by AFC based on the seeding of the teams according to the FIFA Ranking of December 2022. However, this seeding might change as the tournament comes closer. Two top teams of each group will qualify for the knock-out stages plus four best third-place teams from the six groups.

From the December 2022 FIFA World Rankings
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
 Qatar (60) (hosts)
 Japan (20)
 Iran (24)
Korea Rep. (25)
 Australia (27)
 Saudi Arabia (49)		  Iraq (68)
 UAE (70)
 Oman (75)
 China (80)
 Syria (90)
 Vietnam (96)		  Lebanon (100)
 Uzbekistan (77)
 Jordan (84)
 Bahrain (85)
 Palestine (93)
 Kyrgyzstan (94)		  India (106)
 Tajikistan (108)
 Thailand (111)
 Malaysia (145)
 Hong Kong (146)
 Indonesia (151)

 

Venues

Five host cities were submitted in the 2023 bid, including seven stadiums prepared for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Lusail Stadium was proposed to host the final and a semi-final, with the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor to host the other semi-final. However, the official stadiums for the tournament have not been announced yet.

 

City/Area Stadium Capacity
Lusail Lusail Stadium 88,966
Al Khor Al Bayt Stadium 68,895
Al Rayyan Khalifa International Stadium 45,857
Ahmad bin Ali Stadium 45,032
Education City Stadium 44,667
Doha Al Thumama Stadium 44,400
Qatar University Stadium 20,600
Al Wakrah Al Janoub Stadium 44,325

Final standing of the FIFA World Cup 2022 is published.

After the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, FIFA published the official ranking of all teams.

The four top-ranking were obvious as a result of the matches played to determine ranking Argentina beat France in a penalty shoot-out after a thrilling 3-3 draw in regulation time. In the third-place match, Croatia beat Morocco 2-1.

The rest of the rankings were based on the total matches of all participating teams. The Netherlands was placed fifth ahead of England at 6th.

Iran, which failed to qualify from the group stages for the third time running under the Portuguese coach, Queiroz  was ranked a disappointing 26th

 

The rest of the rankings were calculated based on the group stages results for the teams that failed to qualify from their groups. Iran lies in 26th place below Saudi Arabia and above Costa Rica. The host nation Qatar was the bottom-ranked team after ending its run with 3 defeats and with just 1 goal scored.

 

The heartbreaking ranking of Team Melli, coached by the perpetual failure Carlos Queiroz, will be reflected in the latest FIFA ranking which will be published shortly. Iran will lose its top Asian ranking which will be claimed by Japan after a long time. As the World Cup points are valuable, it is not expected that Iran will regain its top Asian ranking for a long time to come.

What are the possibilities for Team Melli qualification?

On Day Two of the Group stages in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Team Melli valiantly defeated Wales 2-0 to earn a precious and vital victory after a bitter opening-day defeat to England. The goalless draw in the other group match between USA and England gave Iran some breathing space and a very good chance to qualify from the group for the first time in its history.

In this edition of the FIFA World Cup that has turned into a political battlefield, the two nations that have received a barrage of criticism and attack are the host nation Qatar and Iran. The reasons are all politically and at times racially motivated. Iran’s Team Melli is perhaps the worst affected of the two side nations and has been the subject of much criticism, anti-team slogans, accusations of representing a tyrannical regime, and promoting the oppressors of the people.  On the other hand, there are groups who support Team Melli without indulging in politics. p

The fact is that Team Melli players are in a predicament and have emotional stress. They are between a rock and a hard place. Those who accuse them of being government agents just because they wear the Jersey of a country that is totally controlled, physically and spiritually by radical and religious clans., alas ignore the duty of any athlete and or footballer to represent the country to the best of his ability to bring joy and pride to the people. Granted, the politicians and the opperssors will manipulate these victories and credit themselves for it.

Victory for Team Melli will be celebrated by the regime and forms the biggest propaganda. But the real winners will be the people of Iran.

The players, or some of them at least, dedicate the victory of Team Melli to the oppressed people of Iran and remind us all that they are playing for the people of the country.

so, with that in mind, Team Melli is looking forward to the vital, knock-out-like match against the USA. The ultimate, political and sporting match.

At this time all four teams in this group have a chance to advance. to the next Knockout round (Round 16). In the meantime, the undoubted qualification solution would be for Team Melli to defeat the Americans on Tuesday. which is easier said than done as it would be a difficult task. However, a draw could also suffice depending on the other result between Wales and England.

Iran’s win will give it 6 points, and regardless of the other result, it is assured of qualification.

A loss will be the end of the road for Team Melli and with it the end of the dream. The USA will have 5 points and will qualify.  England already has 4 and even if it loses against Wales , it will be a case of head-to-head and goal difference.

How will Iran become the leader?

Scenarios.

Iran vs USA – Win for Iran
England vs Wales – Draw 

If Team Melli can defeat the USA and the match between England and Wales ends in a draw, Iran will have 6 points and will qualify as top of the group. England will qualify as well as the second stage with 5 points.

Iran vs USA – Draw
England vs Wales – Draw 

Team Melli’s draw against the USA and England’s draws against Wales means Iran will end up with 4 points, while England will have 5. Both Teams qualify with England as the group leader

Iran vs USA – Draw
England vs Wales – Wales win

Team Melli’s draw against the USA  and Wales beating England means three teams on four points. The USA is eliminated with 3 points. With head-to-head, disciplinary records, and goals difference, Iran stands to lose out and Wales and England qualify.

So, it is clear that Team Melli has to go for a win against the USA. That requires Queiroz to change his mindset and be brave enough to attack and abandon his park-the-bus mentality. Something similar to the game plan against Wales will most probably be enough to defeat the Americans who have several vulnerabilities.

Pulisic: US still has a ‘lot of work left to do’ to make World Cup’s last 16

espn.com

AL KHOR, Qatar — United States midfielder Christian Pulisic said he hoped his side’s performance in a 0-0 draw with Group B favorites England “made a lot of people proud” back in the US, but also acknowledged that he and his teammates have “got a lot of work left to do.”

The result leaves the US in third place in Group B, two points behind leaders England and a point behind Iran, who defeated Wales 2-0 earlier on Friday. The US faces Iran in its group stage finale on Tuesday.

It was a game where England had more possessions, but the US created the better chances, with Pulisic rattling the bar with a shot in the first half. England did put the Americans under pressure at times in the second half, but the US defense, ably marshaled by Tim Ream, held firm.

“A draw’s not the worst thing, but I felt like there were stretches of where we showed confidence and had a lot of the play, and created chances, and even could have won the game” Pulisic said.

“But all in all, I thought we managed it quite well.”

The game had been hyped as an opportunity for the US to show it could go toe-to-toe with one of the game’s heavyweights. Pulisic feels the US did that to a degree, but he knows reaching the knockout rounds will do even more to win over new fans.

“Everyone back home watching, I hope we made a lot of people proud,” he said. “But the job isn’t even close to done, so we’ve got a lot of work left to do.”

US manager Gregg Berhalter echoed many of Pulisic’s sentiments, saying his side delivered a “disciplined performance.”

The US now goes into its final group game with Iran knowing it needs a win to advance to the World Cup knockout stages for the fifth time since 1994.

“The final product still could be better… I’m overall pleased with the performance of the group, most importantly the belief of this group because that never wavered,” Berhalter said.

“We played with a ton of spirit but we’re going to have to be up for it [against Iran]. We want a chance to advance… We know it’s going to be a difficult game, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

Of concern for the US is that it is still struggling to make the most of its chances, with Weston McKennie missing a wide-open opportunity in the first half.

Berhalter said he was happy with the positions his team got into, but noted, “It’s hard to score goals.”

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Worasak: Thailand not afraid of defending champions

the-afc.com
Wednesday  o5 October 2022
Kuwait City:
Match winner Worasak Srirangpirot insists Thailand have no fear of semi-final opponents Iran following their 3-2 win against Tajikistan in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Kuwait 2022 quarter-finals on Tuesday.
With 42 seconds on the clock and the game tied at 2-2, Thailand needed a last-gasp intervention from Worasak to secure a thrilling victory.
Worasak, who started the game from the bench, scored his third goal of the tournament after collecting a pass from Sarawut Phalaphruek at the edge of the area, beating Tajikistan captain Dilshod Salomov on the turn before squeezing his shot past keeper Firuz Bozmamadov.
“Congratulations to Tajikistan for playing a good game,” said Worasak, who was named Player of the Match. “They are a strong and skillful team. I knew from the start that we would be tested. We started the game really slow but we improved as the match progressed.”

“It was a tight contest with the score at 2-2, however, the players have a good understanding. We are always encouraging each other. In the end, we scored the winner and we’re in the semi-finals.

“I want to express my gratitude to the Thailand fans, they motivated us throughout the match and since our first game here in Kuwait.”

Thailand will now face the toughest of opponents in Iran but Worasak said the players are not worried about facing the 12-time champions.
“Iran are only slightly better than us. We faced Iran in a friendly before the tournament. In fact, we almost beat them. Iran were leading by two goals but we struck twice to level the score. If it was not for a last-minute goal, we would have beaten them.”
“We are confident of beating them and Iran should feel the pressure, not us.”