Tag: Mehdi Karimi

Iran’s Futsal Team Crowned Champions at Islamic Solidarity Games 2025

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Iran’s national futsal team has been crowned champion of the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025, securing the gold medal with a commanding 5-0 victory over African champions Morocco in the final held at Riyadh’s Ola Arena on Tuesday evening.

Dominant Final Performance

Team Melli delivered a masterclass performance against the Moroccan side, controlling the match from start to finish. The scoring opened early with Amir Hossein Gholami finding the net, setting the tone for Iran’s offensive dominance.

Mehdi Karimi doubled Iran’s advantage with a powerful, ferocious shot that left the Moroccan goalkeeper with no chance. Captain Hossein Tayebi then extended the lead to 3-0, completing a first-half onslaught that left the African champions reeling.

Defensive Heroics and Strategic Brilliance

Facing a significant deficit, Morocco implemented an aggressive power play strategy that lasted over ten minutes toward the end of the first half. However, Iranian goalkeeper Bagher Mohammadi delivered a heroic performance between the posts, supported by exceptional team defending that consistently denied Moroccan scoring opportunities.

The first half concluded with Iran maintaining their commanding 3-0 advantage.

Second Half Mastery

The match tempo moderated in the initial minutes of the second period, though Iran missed two clear opportunities to further extend their lead.

As anticipated, Morocco reinstated their power play strategy with renewed intensity and vehement attacking pressure. Once again, the Iranian defensive unit rose to the challenge, with Mohammadi continuing his exceptional form by expertly handling every ball that reached his area.

Demonstrating tactical intelligence, Iran capitalized on Morocco’s offensive gambles by scoring twice into the unprotected goal during the power play. Captain Hossein Tayebi netted his second of the match, while Amir Hossein Gholami bookended the scoring with his second goal—Iran’s fifth—sealing a comprehensive victory in spectacular fashion.

Tournament Journey to Gold

Under the guidance of coach Vahid Shamsaei, Iran’s path to the championship demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth throughout the competition.

The campaign began with a hard-fought 2-2 draw against the same Moroccan team in the group stages. Iran then faced another challenging match against a determined Afghan side, resulting in another 2-2 draw that tested the team’s character.

The turning point came in their third group match, where Iran delivered an impressive 4-1 victory over Tajikistan. This momentum carried into the semifinals, where they secured a 4-2 win against Uzbekistan to earn their place in the final.

Morocco reached the championship match by defeating host nation Saudi Arabia in a tightly contested extra-time battle.

Championship Legacy

This gold medal achievement adds another prestigious chapter to Iran’s rich futsal history, reaffirming their status as a global powerhouse in the sport. The comprehensive victory over continental champions Morocco showcases the technical quality, tactical discipline, and mental fortitude that has become synonymous with Iranian futsal.

The Islamic Solidarity Games title represents a significant accomplishment for Coach Shamsaei and his squad as they continue to build toward future international competitions, carrying the pride of Iranian football forward on the world stage.

Iran Futsal defeats Kuwait in SAT Championshiop 2025

Iran’s men’s futsal team defeated Kuwait 5-0 in Thursday’s SAT Futsal Championship Thailand 2025.

Masoud Yousef, Hossein Tayebi, Mehdi Karimi, Hossein Sabzi and Behrouz Azimi were on target for the Iranian team.

. Iran, which entered the match with the starting lineup of Behzad Rasouli, Amirhossein Gholami, Masoud Yousef, Salar Aghapour, and Behrouz Azimi, took control of the game from the very beginning and achieved its first victory in the tournament with goals from Masoud Yousef, Mehdi Karimi, Hossein Sabzi, Behrouz Azimi, and Hossein Tayyibi.

Kuwait, which was defeated by Thailand 4-3 in the first match the day before, seems to have bigger dreams after hiring Bruno Garcia, the famous Spanish coach who led the futsal teams of Peru, Vietnam, and Japan for many years.

Iran, who lost to Russia 2-1 in its opening match, will play Thailand on Saturday.

The high-stakes four-team futsal tournament is taking place from April 9-12, 2025, at Terminal Hall, Terminal 21 Korat, Thailand.

This tournament serves as preparation for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers (September 16-24, 2025).

Saturday 12 April 2025
18.30 Thailand v Iran (Live on T Sports Channel 7)
Terminal Hall Terminal 21 Shopping Center, Nakhon Ratchasima Province

Italy beats Iran futsal in the second match.

After the defeat in the first of the two friendlies matches in  Salsomaggiore Terme, the Italian national futsal team redeems itself in a big way by surviving a late challenge, in the match against the powerful Iran team, ranked seventh in the world.

Italy’s approach to the game was promising, so much so that in the middle of the first half  Gui, perfectly assisted by the usual Merlim unlocks the challenge with a flying torpedo. The second goal comes at a tight turning point, with the same Gui serving Caponigro who, as soon as he enters, invents a brilliant backheel shot that is worth doubling. 2-0 for Italy.  For the Feldi Eboli player, it is the first goal with the Italian national team shirt. The first half of the Bellarte team was at the limits of perfection, but Iran is a great team and in the final minutes manages to equalize the match from the double of the regular scorer Abbasi.

In the second half, however, it is still a great Italfutsal, with Bellarte playing the wild card Berthod: the Goalkeeper of the Under 19 plays with a great personality in the second half. In the fifth minute, Nicolodi finishes a super action of Musumeci to put Italy ahead 3-2, then right from the feet of Berthod the maneuver of the new double advantage is born. The Aosta goalkeeper throws with a perfect assist, for De Oliveira who pushes the ball into the net. The score is now 4-2 for Italy which tries to control the pace of the game, but Iran activates the powerplay movement, always managing with Abbasi to bring the score back to 4-3. That was a warning that Iran was on the brink of a comeback. Merlim and his teammates defended with the grit of their teeth until the final whistle, taking home a sweet-tasting victory in the last outing before focusing on Euro 2022.

ITALY-IRAN 4-3 (2-2 p.t.)
ITALY : Pietrangelo, Murilo, Fortini, Merlim, De Oliveira, Nicolodi, Caponigro, Musumeci, De Matos, Gui, Arillo, Stringari, Podda, Berthod, Molitierno.

Coach: Massimiliano Bellarte

IRAN: Sepehr Mohammadi, AliAsghar Hassanzadeh, Hossein Tayyebi, Mehdi Karimi, Alireza Rafeipour, Hossein Derakhshani, Jamedi, Moslem Oladghobad, Ahmad Abbasi, Mohammad Shajari, Shavardazi, Salar Aghapour, Bagher Mohammadi.

Coach: Nazem Al-Sharia

GOALS: 9’06” p.t. Gui (IT), 11’02” Caponigro (IT), 19’00” and 19’49” Abbasi (IR), 5’06” s.t. Nicolodi (IT), 8’14” De Oliveira (IT), 16’12”

Abbasi (IR)

Yellow cards: Murilo (IT), Arillo (IT)

NOTES: al 12’03” s.t. Merlim (IT) fails a free throw

REFEREES: Dario Pezzuto (ITA), Giulia Colombin (ITA), Simone Zanfino (ITA) CRONO: Giovanni Zannola (ITA)

Iran defeats Italy 6-4 in a friendly futsal international.

the Iranian national futsal team defeated Italy 6-4 today Monday in the first international friendly training match. In this game, which was held at 20:45 (Tehran time) in Salsomajore, Mehdi Karimi (three times), Mohammad Shajari, Hossein Tayyebi, and Saeed Ahmad Abbasi scored for Iran. The goals of the host team were also scored by Alex Merlim, Gabriel Motta, De Matheos, Morillo.

In the first of the two friendlies with Italy, missing Mammarella due to injury and on the day of the 100th appearances of Alex Merlim’s the host Italy, lost 4-6 at the end of a challenge of rare intensity against the seventh-ranked team in the Wolrd, Iran. Spectacular and fun game, with many reversals of results. First half – Iran, looking ready and strong immediately put the Azzurri under pressure; after just one minute and forty seconds, Karimi unlocked the Italian goal by overcoming Molitierno for 1-0.

Mehdi Karimi

– MEHDI KARIMI –

Molitierno had to drop the shutter on a couple of other occasions, and Iran found the way to double the score, bagging again with Karimi the net of 2-0 at the thirteenth. In the most difficult moment of the first half, Murilo gets a penalty kick that Merlim converts the Penalty kick for 1-2 which puts Italy back in the game. Iran puts fierce pressure on the possession of Merlim and his comrades, but it has the only demerit of charging itself with fouls. Two minutes before half-time, with Nazem Al-Sharia’s team in bonus, Motta took advantage of the free throw and scored the equalizer. Thirty seconds later, Musumeci provoked the direct red of the Iran keeper Bagher Mohammadi, but Merlim did not take advantage of the following free. Like the extra man, however, Merlim redeems himself by creating the assist for Cainan: the goal of the Azzurri put them 3-2 with half a minute from the end of the first half.

Second half – The start of Iran’s recovery is sumptuous. Still, Karimi, with the personal hat-trick, puts the match back in parity after just seventy seconds and in the sixth, it is Shajari who creates the counter and scores.  with a goal behind (3-4) Italy suffers in the dribbling phase, with the Iranians continuing to put a suffocating defensive pressure. Bellarte’s team, however, has the strength to rebalance the challenge with Murilo’s touch under goal for 4-4 in the ninth minute. However, it is still Iran that scores by putting its head forward with Benfica star Hossein Tayyebi. Bellarte responded by immediately putting the goalkeeper in action for power play, but the hopes of a draw were shattered on the saves of the substitute Sepher Mohammadi and on the post hit by Motta 50 “from the end. Just on the counter Abbasi, taking advantage of the 5 vs 4, scores the definitive sixth for guests Iran (4-6) with an empty goal. For the Azzurri, however, a test of character against one of the strongest teams in the world.

Tomorrow the match between the two teams at 5 pm will be repeated in the same venue at the Palasport of Salsomaggiore Terme.

Italy is preparing for the Euro 2022 championship and the match against Iran will be the team’s last preparation game.