Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Medellin: As the cream of the futsal world descend on Colombia for the eighth edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup, the-afc.com takes a look at Asia’s five representatives and how they qualified for the global showpiece.
Iran
Group F (Spain, Morocco, Azerbaijan)
Asia’s futsal powerhouse, and winners of eleven of the fourteen AFC Futsal Championships, Iran will arrive in Colombia with yet another continental title under their belt, after beating Uzbekistan in this year’s final.
The 2016 AFC Futsal Championship, which doubled as the qualifying tournament for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, saw the Iranians qualify easily, scoring 48 goals and conceding just four in their six matches.
Big group stage wins over Jordan (6-0), China (7-0) and Iraq (13-2) were followed by similar routs in the Knockout Stage as they beat Kyrgyzstan 7-0 to secure World Cup qualification before trouncing Vietnam 13-1 in the semi-final.
Iran were sternly tested by Uzbekistan in the final but prevailed with a 2-1 win, and thanks to players such as Ghodrat Bahadori and Farhad Tavakoli fresh from outstanding individual performances at the 2016 AFC Futsal Club Championship, this may be the year Iran unlock their potential and reach the latter stages of the finals.
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