Agencies
Dubai
Qatar defender Lucas Mendes called on his teammates to make rapid improvements to revive their chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup following the team’s 1-4 loss to Iran at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday.
“It was a tough game but we know the Iranians are very strong, they have very good players (who are) at a high level,” said Brazil-born defender Mendes, who set up teammates Almoez Ali to score the opening goal in the 17th minute.
Referring to Qatar’s slow start to the Asian Qualifiers in Group A, Mendes said, “It’s a bad start from us but still we have six games. We need to change our level. Many mistakes, we need to improve.”
Qatar played in the FIFA World Cup 2022 as host nation and are looking to securing their place at the 2026 World Cup.
The top two finishers in each of Asia’s three qualifying groups advance to the World Cup while the third and fourth-placed nations progress to a further round of preliminaries.
Qatar are fourth in Group A, level on four points with the third-placed United Arab Emirates and one point ahead of Kyrgyzstan who are fifth. They next host Uzbekistan on Nov. 14.
Tuesday’s game was a rematch of the Asian Cup semi-final in February that Qatar won on the way to a second successive title and when Ali smashed the ball home Marquez Lopez’s side looked to be on the path to a similar result.
But Azmoun headed in the equaliser three minutes before the break and then put his side ahead in the 48th following a mix up between Mendes and goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham.
Azmoun set up the third in the 65th minute for Mohebi, who then wrapped up the win deep into added time as the Iranians avenged their loss at the continental championship.
“It was a really important three points,” said Azmoun. “Really, it was a really easy game for us. We didn’t expect that the game would go like that.”
Lopez said, “Iran performed better than us. They were at their best. Our goal of qualifying for the World Cup has not changed after this loss. The opportunity is still there, despite having the strong teams like Uzbekistan and Iran in the group.
“We have to fight for our chances until the end. There are still points to be earned from the six matches available, and we must work hard to obtain them.”
