Team Meli only needs points to confirm their fourth consecutive appearance at the FIFA World Cup, but Uzbekistan’s victory will allow them to pull out the level with Iran with 19 points.
Amir Ghalenoei’s accusations rarely stepped into what was a mild qualifying campaign.
The head coach spoke after Thursday’s 2-0 victory over the UAE, and is proud of how Iran played since his semi-finals at the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, urging him to complete the qualifying work for next year’s Global Showpiece in a preliminary match.
However, Uzbekistan will be fired in the same way. The victory is almost certain to confirm his first appearance at the FIFA World Cup.
They will need to control their nerves at an impressive Azadi Stadium as they showed signs of getting better in a 1-0 victory against 10 Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.
MNA