FIFA U-17 World Cup:
Iran to face Morocco in last-16 round
Iran’s fairy tale run at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia will continue with a last-16 game against Morocco in Surabaya on Tuesday.
Hossein Abdi’s boys routed New Caledonia 5-0 on Friday to finish third in Group C – equal on six points with the two previous champions of the competition in England and Brazil.
Amirmohammad Razzaqinia scored twice in the first half, while Esmaeil Qolizadeh hit the post from the spot in the 25th minute.
Reza Ghandipour added a third 14 minutes from normal time before substitutes Amirhossein Askari and Kasra Taheri were on the scoresheet in the stoppage time to seal a second victory for Iran, which had won a berth in the event after making it to the last four of the U17 Asian Cup in June.
Iran pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament by coming from two goals down at halftime to stun defending champion Brazil 3-2 on the opening day of the group.
Abdi’s side, however, was left heartbroken in its second outing in Jakarta after Manchester City product Joel Ndala bagged a 90th-minute winner to lead England to a 2-1 comeback triumph against Iran.
Elsewhere on Friday, Brazil defeated 2-1 but still had to settle for the runner-up spot behind the 2017 champion on goal difference.
“I’m so happy,” Abdi said of his team’s progress to the next round, adding: “It was a daunting task but we managed to accomplish it.”
“I believe the Iranian players even deserved to qualify as the group winner but we missed too many chances today.”
Former Persepolis midfielder was also thrilled to see all of his players avoid injuries in their final group game.
“That was a top priority for us today. We’re now going to have everyone fit and ready for the Morocco game.”
Runner-up to Senegal in May’s Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco won Group A in Indonesia – also featuring the host country, Ecuador, and Panama – with six points, thanks to double victories over Panama (2-0) and Indonesia (3-1) while suffering a 2-0 defeat against Ecuador, which will face Brazil on Monday.
“Morocco is a great team and it is going to be a tough match against them, but we will give it our best shot to make sure a year and a half of hard work will pay off. We’ve set sights on going as far as possible in the tournament,” said the Iranian head coach.