CAFA Women’s Futsal Championship:
Iranian girls rout Uzbekistan in opener
Iran got off to a dominant start in the 2025 CAFA Women’s Futsal Championship in Tajikistan by thrashing Uzbekistan 9-0 on Sunday.
Zahra Kianimanesh put Iran in front with five minutes into the game at the Dushanbe Indoor Hall and her goal was the difference between the two sides at halftime.
Roqayyeh Some’eh doubled Iran’s lead 15 seconds after the restart before Maral Torkaman and Fatemeh Hosseini bagged a brace apiece, with Mahtab Banaei, Nasimeh Gholami, and Fereshteh Karimi also on the scoresheet.
Turkmenistan and the Kyrgyz Republic shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw earlier in the day.
Iran’s next game in the tournament, featuring five Central Asian countries in a round-robin format, will come against the Kyrgyz Republic on Wednesday.
The event is part of the Iranian girls’ preparation for May’s AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup, which will resume after a seven-year hiatus in China.
Chasing a third successive title in as many editions, Forouzan Soleimani’s side will begin its campaign with a game against the Philippines on May 7, before squaring off against Vietnam and Hong Kong in Group B.
The top three of the 12-team tournament will punch their tickets for the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup – starting November 21 in the Philippines.
In other groups, the host country is pitted against Uzbekistan, the Chinese Taipei, and Australia in Group A, with Japan – beaten by Iran in the previous two finals – and two-time bronze winner Thailand joined by Indonesia and Bahrain in Group C.