Iran has come an important step towards reaching the FIFA World Cup finals for the fourth time in a row and the seventh in its history, after defeating host North Korea 3-2, Thursday in Laos, in the fifth round of the third round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 edition.
Iran achieved a comfortable lead in the first half through Mehdi Qaedi (29) and a brace from Mohammad Mohebi (41, 45), before the North Koreans reduced the score in the second half through Mehdi Taremi (56 fouls against his team) and Kim Yu-Sung (59), after… Iranian defender Shoja Khalilzadeh was sent off (51).
Iran raised its score to 13 points in the first group, three more than Uzbekistan, which later plays Qatar in Doha (4), while the UAE (4) hosts Kyrgyzstan (3) in Abu Dhabi.
Iran opened the scoring after a pass from Taremi, the Italian Inter player, to Qaidi, who was alone on goal and shot with his right into the right corner (29).
“Tim Meli” doubled his lead with a perfect pass from Tarmi to Mohebi on the right side of the penalty area, and the Russian Rostov player shot it into the left corner (41).
Before the half-time whistle, Mohebi visited the net again after a cross from Tarmi as well, which he aimed out of the reach of goalkeeper Kang-Joo Hyuk (45).
After Khalilzadeh was directly expelled after he obstructed Ri Joo-guk before he was alone with the goal (51), the Koreans took advantage of the numerical deficiency, reducing the difference with a cross by Kang Kuk-chul that bounced off Taremi’s foot and deceived goalkeeper Ali Reza Beranvand (56).
Korea scored the second after a cross that was converted by substitute Kim Yu-sung into the goal (59).
Iran wasted the opportunity to score the fourth from a penalty kick after obstructing Taremi (32 years old), which the latter failed to translate after the goalkeeper excelled in stopping it (67).
Korea was close to the equation, but Ri Jo-guk’s shot bounced off the crossbar (75).
The top two teams from each group qualify directly to the 2026 World Cup finals, while the two teams in third and fourth places move on to compete in the fourth round to compete for two tickets to the World Cup and a ticket to the global playoff.
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