the-afc.com
Monday, 22nd September 2025

Kuantan: Iran’s Futsal Team Melli , made it two wins out of two following their 10-0 defeat of the United Arab Emirates in their AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Indonesia 2026 Qualifiers Group C match on Monday.

Hosts Malaysia set up a tantalising Matchday Three showdown with Iran following a 7-1 victory against Bangladesh. 

Iran, who sailed 12-0 past Bangladesh in the opener, only needed 30 seconds to find the back of the net through Behrooz Azimihematabadi, who gained possession from a poor back pass before slipping the ball home.

UAE tried to assert themselves but lost their momentum after Iran capitalised on a counter-attacking move in the seventh minute, which saw Mahdi Karimi curling his effort into the top left corner from above the box.

Despite the Emiratis best efforts to contain the men in red, with Hamad Hassan Alblooshi forcing Iran keeper Mahdi Rostami into a save a minute later, Amirhossein Dehghani made it 3-0 seconds later after converting Azimihematabadi’s corner.

Iran maintained control through their high-press and increased their tally in the 12th minute through Masoud Yousef Shavardazi before Hossein Tayebibidgoli etched his name on the scoresheet a minute later following another counter-attacking move.

Shavardazi then netted from a 10-metre penalty in the 18th minute before Hossein Sabzi gained possession from the right flank to set up Ali Khalilvand Somehsofla for a simple tap-in.

Iran were relentless after the break with goals from Azimihematabadi (23rd), Rostami (28th) and Shavardazi (29th) sealing the emphatic win.