News ID: 603

Date: 01 February 2026 - 16:04

Iran Advances to Knockout Stage of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup with Victory over Saudi Arabia

Iran’s national futsal team secured their qualification for the knockout stage of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup – Indonesia 2026, following a commanding 2–0 win over Saudi Arabia in their second Group D match.

According to the official website of the Football Federation, the Iranian national futsal team confirmed their place in the knockout round of the ongoing AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2026 after defeating Saudi Arabia 2–0 in their second group match. With this result, Iran earned 6 points from two matches and officially advanced to the next round.

Head coach Vahid Shamsaei started the match with the lineup of Baqer Mohammadi, Hossein Tayebi (captain), Moslem Oladghobad, Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani, and Salar Aghapour. Despite Iran’s full domination and repeated attacking waves, Saudi Arabia’s goalkeeper produced several remarkable saves to keep the first half scoreless.

In the closing seconds of the first half, Behrouz Azimi managed to score; however, following a Saudi protest and VAR review (Video Support), the goal was disallowed as the whistle for halftime had already sounded.

The deadlock was broken early in the second half when Moslem Oladghobad delivered a precise assist to Amirhossein Gholami, who headed the ball in to open the scoring for Iran.

Later, in a moment of counter-attacking brilliance, goalkeeper Baqer Mohammadi added the second goal with a long-range strike while Saudi Arabia had adopted a power play formation in search of an equalizer.

With two straight victories, Iran ensured early qualification to the knockout stage and will face Afghanistan on Sunday at 15:30 (local time) in their final Group D encounter, determining the group leader position.