Tribune News Network
Doha
Two-time Asian champions Qatar will seek to take their form a notch higher when they clash with formidable Iran in blockbuster Group A clash of the AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to World Cup 2026 - at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday.
The tie was was moved by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced to a neutral venue in the United Arab Emirates given the situation. It was earlier to be played in Mahdad in Iran.
Qatar however are ready for the away contest having scored a 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan in the last match at the Al Thumama Stadium last week.
Qatar coach Marquez Lopez will be hoping the victory was the booster his side needed in their bid to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals on merit for the first time.
The West Asian side will go into the tie with the psychological advantage of having defeated Iran 3-2 in thrilling AFC Asian Cup semi-final in February.
Speaking on eve of the match, the Spaniard coach said, “We have a difficult match but the team is confident after a morale-boosting win in our last match. We are looking forward to building on that victory and gain more points in the match.
“We know Iran are a strong side but we are well prepared. We are confident as we have developed the strategy which will hopefully give us good result.”
Qatar midfielder Tarek Salman said, “We are excited about meeting Iran. It’s definitely a tough challenge but every player is ready to give his best. Our win against Kyrgyzstan was crucial as it gave us huge confidence. Now the entire squad is aiming to maintain the winning momentum.”
Iran currently lead the group standings together with Uzbekistan while a win for Qatar will see the two-time AFC Asian Cup champions drawing level with Tuesday’s opponents.
While Iran and Uzbekistan have 7 points each, Qatar are fourth in the group with 4 points, and UAE third, also with 4 points.
Iran had to be satisfied with a draw against Uzbekistan on Thursday and will know that they can’t afford to drop points against Qatar.
Particularly concerning for head coach Amir Ghalenoei will be the fact that goals have been hard to come by, with Iran only having found the back of the net twice in three matches.
Ghalenoei said, “Qatar play football with a plan and they are dangerous. A few months ago, we played in the Asian Cup (semi-finals) which we lost. But this game has its own conditions and it is very different from that match.”
When asked if his team would be seeking a revenge, the Iran coach said, “Football is for enjoyment and we must try to win a good game to make the fans happy. We are not looking for revenge, because football is not a place to take revenge, but we want to win to make people happy. We respect the good team of Qatar. They have shown that football is progressing in Asia.
“If we win this important game, we will have gone more than 50% of the way to promotion and this is what we are looking for.”
Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand said the team was looking for a good result. “We knew we could have advanced comfortably by winning against two toughest teams in the group – Uzbekistan and Qatar. Unfortunately, in the first game against Uzbekistan, despite the fact that we played well, the game ended with a goalless draw. Now we are ready to compete with Qatar and I hope we can get a good result,” he said.
