Vilnius Arena, Vilnius.

Iran opened their FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 campaign brightly with a 3-2 win over Serbia in Group F at the Vilnius Arena on Tuesday.

Iran, seeking to emulate if not better their third-place finish in the 2016 edition, were always on the front foot against Serbia and will now aim to make it two wins in a row when they play the United States on Sunday.

Iran, appearing in their eighth FIFA Futsal World Cup, raced off the blocks with Mahdi Javid spearheading the attack with captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh dictating the tempo of play.

It was not long before the Iranians found the back of the net with Hamid Ahmadi getting on the scoresheet with his fourth-minute strike off Moslem Oladghobad assist before Farhad Fakhim doubled their advantage seconds later.

Serbia, however, refused to buckle as Dejan Majes’ tried to find a way back despite the immense pressure from the Iranian side.

The Asian champions suffered a blow in the 11th minute when goalscorer Ahmadi was given his marching orders after picking up his second yellow card, with Serbia then seeing more of the ball with Slobodan Rajcevic, Dragan Tomic, and Mladen Kocic all making attempts but goalkeeper Alireza Samimi stayed firm.

Serbia, however, were not to be denied by the Mes Sungun FSC shot-stopper as Milos Stojkovic pulled one back courtesy of Marko Prsic’s assist with two minutes left in the first half.

The opening minutes of the second half was equally balanced as both teams traded blows but neither could find a breakthrough in a tense contest with Serbia growing in confidence as the match progressed.

Despite Serbia’s best efforts, Iran refused to be breached again and put the tie beyond reach through Ahmad Esmaeilpour’s strike three minutes from time with Dragan Tomic reducing the deficit seconds later.

Final result

IRAN   3 –  2  SERBIA 

NEXT MATCH

17 September: Iran vs United States (Vilnius)