After the win against Azerbaijan, Macedonia was put back on ground by the Asian giant who recorded a comfortable win in Skopje.

Macedonia made a small glimpse of hope with the 3:1 win over Azerbaijan on neutral ground in Austria on Sunday, but all that was quickly erased by the disastrous performance against Iran on Thursday. The many mistakes in the back line gave the Iranians lots of chances and only thanks to keeper Dimitrievski the final result wasn’t a humiliating defeat.

Sardar Azmoun was a hat-trick hero for the visitors scoring all goals for his team. He broke the deadlock after only 8 minutes of play, but Macedonia quickly equalized through Aleksandar Trajkovski in the 10th minute. Ten minutes later Azmoun brought back Iran the lead, a score that remained for the entire first half.

Macedonia tried to create some chances after the break, but Azmoun destroyed all the hopes for a positive result with his third goal in the 60th minute. The Iranians could have easily win with 5 or 6:1, but keeper Dimitrievski managed so make some great saves.

The small crowd at the Philip II Arena once again booed the players, except Dimitrievski who earned ovations on several occasions.