AFC Women’s Asia Cup qualifiers:
Iran in pole position after Bhutan rout
Iran celebrated a second successive victory at the AFC Women’s Asia Cup qualifiers by hammering Bhutan 7-1 in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday.
The victory left Marziyeh Jafari’s girls, who had eased to a 4-0 win against Singapore on Thursday, on top of the Group A table, thanks to a superior goal difference over Jordan.
Zahra Alizadeh’s cool touch put Iran in front in the second minute before Fatemeh Shaban’s double gave Team Melli a three-goal lead inside 10 minutes at the King Abdullah II Stadium.
Having stepped into the game on the back of impressive wins against Singapore and Lebanon, Bhutan pulled one back through Deki Lhazom in the 12th minute, but Negin Zandi’s composed finish restored the three-goal cushion in the 36th minute.
Iran continued to dominate the game after the break with Zandi smashing an effort into the side netting before Alizadeh’s wonderful lob hit the crossbar.
Iranians’ tenacity saw them add more goals late on through skipper Zahra Qanbari (81st), and substitutes Mohaddeseh Zolfi (83rd) and Roujin Tamrian (85th) to round off an emphatic scoreline as they stayed on course for a place at the finals.
“We delivered a much better performance than our first game [against Singapore] and played with more cohesion in all parts of the pitch. That’s a positive sign, and I just hope we keep improving,” said Iran boss Jafari, who left her role at Bam Khatoon in April to take the national team job.
“Khatun had played the Bhutanese champion in the AFC Women’s Champions League [last year], which gave us a good understanding of their tactical structure and weaknesses and helped us come up with the right game plan today,” added Jafari.
Later in the day, Jordan hammered Singapore by five unanswered goals to close the gap on Iran in the table.
Next for Iran is a game against Lebanon on Wednesday, with Jordan taking on Bhutan.
Iran and Jordan will square off on Saturday in what promises to decide the top spot of the qualification group and a place in the 2026 finals in Australia next March.