Iran qualified for the sixth final phase of the World Cup in its history, the third in a row, after its victory over Iraq (1-0), this Thursday in Tehran, in a group A match of the qualifying phase of the Asian area.
The Iranian team is the fourteenth to validate its ticket to the Qatar World Cup 2022 (November 21-December 18) and the second team from Asia to achieve it, after Qatar itself, qualified directly as the organizing country.
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Iran’s goal: get through the group stage in Qatar
Iran has been very strong in group A, with six wins in seven games (19 years old) and is mathematically certain to finish in one of the first two qualifying positions, with three rounds to go.
In Qatar, at the end of this year, they will try to overcome the first phase of a World Cup for the first time after five unsuccessful attempts in their previous participations, in 1978, 1998 (despite a victory over the United States 2-1), 2006, 2014 and 2018-
Iran, unbeaten since Croatian Dragan Skocic arrived on the bench in February 2020 (eleven wins and one draw), won this Thursday thanks to a goal from Porto attacker Mehdi Taremi just after the break (minute 48).
“We are happy, we are going to the World Cup,” the fans chanted as they left the stadium. “It’s our team, it’s our lions,” they added.
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The women returned to the stadium after almost three years
For the first time in almost three years, women were allowed to attend this match in the stadium’s stands. For four decades, the Islamic Republic has generally banned female spectators from entering stadiums, especially for soccer matches.
The religious, who play a preponderant role in this Muslim country, maintain that women must be protected from the masculine atmosphere and from the sight of partially undressed men.
In September 2019, FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, had told Iran that it must allow women unrestricted access to stadiums. A month later they were able to attend the duel between
Iran and Cambodia, World Cup qualifying match-2022.
SPORTS
with AFP
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