World Cup Asian qualifiers:
Iran out to win over domestic critics against Kyrgyzstan
Iran will look to make a significant stride towards a place in the 2026 World Cup when playing away to Kyrgyzstan in Group A of the Asian qualifiers today.
Amir Qalenoei’s side is top of the group table with 13 points after five rounds of matches – three points clear of second-placed Uzbekistan, and, more importantly, six above the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
With a top-two finish in each of the three groups securing direct qualification for the finals, maximum points in Bishkek’s Dolen Omurzakov Stadium will all but guarantee Team Melli’s progress to the showpiece in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Iran defeated North Korea 3-2 in Laos as the Asian qualifiers reached the halfway point on Thursday, though a shaky second-half performance saw a significant portion of the fans and pundits in the country take a swipe at Qalenoei and his players again.
Leading by three goals at the break, Iran went down to 10 men through a straight red for defender Shoja Khalilzadeh six minutes after the restart and then conceded twice inside three minutes.
Mahdi Taremi was denied from the spot by the North Korean keeper and Iran was “fortunate not be punished”, as Qalenoei admitted after the game, by a late equalizer when Ri Jo-guk’s strike hit the crossbar.
For all the decent run of results since Qalenoei took over on the bench after the 2022 World Cup, the Iranian head coach has hardly avoided scrutiny over the past 20 months.
The 60-year-old is on the verge of becoming only the second home-grown coach to steer Iran to the World Cup finals – following legendary Heshmat Mohajerani in 1978 – but the imminent feat has done little to keep the critics from questioning his team’s inconsistency throughout the 90 minutes, most demonstrated against North Korea, as well as Qalenoei’s overreliance on a certain group of ageing players.
When asked about the criticism in Monday’s pre-match press conference, Qalenoei said: “I can only be happy that the team has scored 71 goals in 29 games since I took the role. We managed to build an attack-minded team in such a short time, despite a whole different approach [under former coach Carlos Queiroz] for a decade.”
A commanding display against Kyrgyzstan is what Qalenoei and his men need to prove their doubters wrong until the next international break in late March.
Missing trio
Khalilzadeh, who will likely be replaced by Hossein Kan’anizadegan in the starting XI, is not the only player to have missed the visit to the Kyrgyz capital.
Ittihad Kalba midfielder Saman Qoddous sat out the North Korea win with a hamstring injury and has returned to the United Arab Emirates for further treatment, while prolific winger Mohammad Mohebbi, who found the net twice on Thursday, will also miss the game with the same problem.
Second from bottom in the group with three points, Kyrgyzstan has proved to be a favorite opponent for Team Melli, which has a 5-0 head-to-head record the Central Asian side, bagging 22 goals.
Qalenoei’s men, however, had to dig deep for victory last time out against Kyrgyzstan on home soil, as a Taremi’s first-half strike was the difference between the two sides in September’s reverse fixture in the group.
Elsewhere in Group A, Uzbekistan will be eager to bounce back from the 3-2 loss at Qatar with a win against North Korea in Vientiane and retain the safe margin over the UAE and Qatar, which will square off in Abu Dhabi.