FIFA Futsal World Cup:
Iran eyeing top spot in the group against France
The top spot in Group F will be on the line when Iran and France square off in the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, today. Both sides will step onto the court on the back of successive wins in the group – also featuring Venezuela and Guatemala – with Iran sitting atop the table thanks to a superior goal difference and a draw will be enough to send Vahid Shamsaei’s men through as the group winners. Having beaten Venezuela 7-1 in their group opener, the Asian powerhouse came from behind to defeat Guatemala 9-4 on Thursday.
Prolific Saeid Ahmad-Abbasi bagged a hat-trick, with Hossein Tayebi and Player of the Match Salar Aghapour contributing with two goals apiece, while Behrouz Azimi and Mahdi also found the net as Iran recorded its best scoring tally in a single World Cup game since the 10-6 beating of Paraguay in 1992.
Iranian head coach Shamsaei, however, was not impressed by the scoreline, saying: “We won the game, but my face shows what I thought about our performance. I don’t like to think about what has happened here.”
“I felt my players are thinking they are above the game, and there is no place in my team for that. This is my fault. But at least we won and we are qualified,” added Iran’s all-time international top scorer, whose team conceded the first goal of the game against the Central Americans and was held to a 3-3 draw at halftime.
France, meanwhile, continued its impressive debut in the global showpiece with a 7-3 victory over the Venezuelans, following the 6-3 triumph against Guatemala on the opening day.
The winner of Group F will play defending champion Portugal or African heavyweight Morocco, which will go head-to-head earlier today in Tashkent, in the round 16 on Thursday, while the runner-up will face Thailand – runner-up to Brazil in Group B – in the knockouts.