Tag: Jakarta

Group D top spot matters for Afghanistan and Iran

the-afc.com
It will be a battle for the purists when Afghanistan takes on Iran in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Indonesia 2026™ Group D decider on Sunday.

Both have been flawless thus far, qualifying for the quarter-finals with a match to spare but something will have to give in Sunday’s highly anticipated encounter.

#ACFutsal2026 | Group D: Malaysia 0-7 Afghanistan

“It was unbelievable for us to achieve a big 7-0 victory,” said Mortezaei. “The fans made the atmosphere for us like we were playing at home.

“We are happy to reach the next stage and this is what we deserved. Playing against Iran is always difficult but we will try to maintain our high level.”

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“We drew with them in the last game (2-2 in the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games) but here, we want to finish first in the group and, hopefully, to be able to keep a clean sheet going as well.”

Iran’s place in the knockout stage was sealed after they overcame a stubborn Saudi Arabia 2-0 on Friday with second half strikes from Amirhossein Gholami and Bagher Mohammadi.

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The 13-time champions have an impeccable record of winning every group stage match since the format was introduced in the 2007 edition and head coach Vahid Shamsaee intends to add one more to the collection.

“We are happy to win and are already thinking about the next game,” said Shamsaee. “On the performance, there’s still a lot of things we can do better and we will try to achieve that in the next game.”

IR Iran v Afghanistan 
Venue: Jakarta International Velodrome (Jakarta)
Kick-off: Sunday, 19:00 (UTC+7)

Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are hopeful of a positive end to their time in Jakarta after suffering disappointments with defeats in their first two matches.

#ACFutsal2026 | Group D: Saudi Arabia 0-2 IR Iran

Saudi Arabia produced a spirited display against Iran but ultimately suffered a 2-0 defeat but head coach Andreu Plaza saw enough to suggest that his players can take plenty of heart from that performance into their final fixture.

“When we looked at what we wanted to do in this game, we knew we had to be strong and to be able to press because we only had one opportunity against a very strong and technical team like Iran,” said Plaza.

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“The tactics were good but we needed some luck with our finishing and that’s been our problem throughout, not only in this match but I’m happy with the performance.

“We want to go back with a win of course, we will try but Malaysia won’t be easy.”

Malaysia head coach Addie Azwan did not hide his disappointment after seeing his charges completely lose control against Afghanistan, where they conceded three goals in the space of four minutes.

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“The first eight minutes were quite good, we showed good discipline but once we conceded the first goal, the players lost focus and we couldn’t cope with their counter attacks,” said Addie.

“We had to push in the second half but it didn’t work. The last game (against Saudi Arabia) is still an important one for us and we will need to find the focus for that.”

Saudi Arabia v Malaysia
Venue: Indonesia Arena (Jakarta)
Kick-off: Sunday, 19:00 (UTC+7)

Team Melli to leave for AFC Futsal Asian Cup

Iran’s National Futsal team will depart Tehran to Jakarta on Friday, to participate in the 18th edition of Asian Premier Futsal Competition. The defending champions are coached by Vahid Shamsaei.

Thrilling battles await at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Indonesia 2026™ when it kicks off on January 27 (Tuesday) in Jakarta as 16 teams chase ultimate glory.

The 18th edition of the tournament features a host of familiar contenders, with 13 returning from the previous campaign in 2024, including the ever-present quartet of Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Thailand and Uzbekistan, who extend their record of appearing in every Finals to date.

Hosting the hard-court showpiece for the second time after 2002, Indonesia will stage the matches across two venues, with the champions to be crowned on February 7.

The first matchday opens at the Jakarta International Velodrome with a 1pm clash between Thailand (FIFA Rank: 11) and Lebanon (54) in Group B. Having thrice finished as runners-up, including in 2024, the Thais will hope to make the final breakthrough this time, while their opponents—seven-time quarter-finalists—are back for a 13th occasion, following their last appearance in 2022. At 5pm, 2016 fourth-place finishers Vietnam (20) start their eighth Finals quest against Kuwait (40), whose best placings are also fourth (2003, 2014) and are marking their 14th Finals showing.

Over at the Indonesia Arena at 3pm, Group A gets underway with Iraq (37), who placed fourth in 2018, commencing their 14th involvement against a Kyrgyz Republic (43) outfit that finished fourth twice (2006, 2007) and are contesting a 17th Finals. Indonesia (24), who registered their best finish in 2022—their most recent showing—by reaching the last eight, can expect a boisterous backing at 7pm in their 11th appearance as they face Korea Republic (57), involved for a 16th occasion and looking to better their runners-up finish from 1999.

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Having enjoyed a memorable debut in 2024 by reaching the Quarter-finals to qualify for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024, Afghanistan (28) will be hungry for more as they gear up to face Saudi Arabia (45)—notching their fourth Finals appearance—in Group D on January 28 at 1pm at the Jakarta International Velodrome. Reigning champions IR Iran (5), the only team to have never finished outside the top three, will commence their hunt for a record-extending 14th crown at 5pm against Malaysia (70), who will feature at a 13th Finals and first since 2018.

Japan (13) go in search of a fifth title after falling well short in 2024 when they suffered their first-ever Group Stage exit and start with a Group C opener at 3pm at the Indonesia Arena against Australia (51), who are appearing at their ninth Finals and count fourth place in 2012 as their best result. A maiden success will be on the minds of four-time finalists Uzbekistan (22) ahead of their 7pm showdown against Tajikistan (47), who registered a best-ever fourth-place finish in 2024—an achievement they will aim to surpass at their 13th Finals.

Group D

Wednesday, January 28, 2026 GROUP STAGE – GROUP D

AFGHANISTAN – SAUDI ARABIA

IRAN – MALAYSIA

Friday, January 30, 2026 GROUP STAGE – GROUP D

SAUDI ARABIA – IRAN

MALAYSIA – AFGHANISTAN

Sunday, February 1, 2026 – GROUP STAGE – GROUP D

SAUDI ARABIA – MALAYSIA

IRAN – AFGHANISTAN

Jakarta Asian Games- Football groups to be re-drawn!

According to the Mehr news agency and the  FFIRI website, the UAE and Palestine were not included in the first groups draw.

It is said that the two countries have completed their registration process correctly and in accordance with the rules of the Asian Game.  However, their names were dropped!  To correct this, the organizing committee will arrange the second lot  which will be held with 26 countries.

Based on this, the new draw will be held July 23rd of July in Jakarta.

In the previous draw, Iran U23 team was in Group F along with Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea. North Korea  is the winner of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

Asian Games Men Football matches are played by teams with under the age of 23. Each team can have up to three players over the age range with Wildcard entering the game.

The Asian Games 2018 will begin on August 27, but the men’s soccer games will begin on August 23rd.

Zlatko Kranjcar is a leading candidate to coach Omid team.

The Iranian Football Federation is considering the appointment a head coach of Iran’s U23 (Omid) team to prepare and represent the country in the Asian Games 2018  Jakarta, although the team has already wasted a lot of opportunity, as the FFIRI Technical Committee should have selected a coach last month.

Federation officials have been negotiating with some domestic and foreign coaches during the past few days. Even the president of the federation, Mahdi Taj, told reporters yesterday that the talks are continuing, and this week the coach’s name will be announced.

The former head coach of the Sepahan squad Zlatko Krancjar, who failed to meet expectations this season with the Esfahani club, is one of the main choices for the federation, and even the Football Federation’s secretary Mohammad Reza Saket had talks with the Croatian coach.

FFIRI has always been a failure with the U23/U22 teams. For some odd reason, they have never managed to get their acts together at this age level and seem to have some complex on how to deal at this age level football teams. Most of the problems are self-inflicted, though including their chronic late preparation, and last minute search for a coach and finally poor preparations.

Krancjar, who has arrived in Tehran for a few days, is a favorite with the Federation officials who have started serious talks with him. It was confirmed that a meeting was carried out with federation officials in one of the hotels in Tehran, but the results are not clear.

Krancjar was the main choice to be the head coach of the Omid team in in December 2014 under the leadership of Habib Kashani, but the blatant intervention of the Ministry of Sports who claimed that the Croat does not conform for ethical/religious values (…), eventually meant that the federation so dependent on the government, had to shelve the idea of recruiting Karanjcar. Th coaching of the team was given to the novice coach Mohammad Khakpour, who failed to achieve anything and also failed to qualify for the Olympics.