The Iranian national team brought its Qatari counterpart back to square one in the competition for direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup finals, by defeating them today, Tuesday, 4-1, in the fourth round of the final stage of the Asian qualifiers.

After this loss, Qatar fell to fourth place in the standings, qualifying for the Asian and World Cup, as Iran topped with 10 points on goal difference over Uzbekistan, which defeated the UAE with a clean goal, earlier in today’s matches.

The group matches, which were also held on Tuesday, saw Kyrgyzstan defeat the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 1-0 in Bishkek.

The Qatar national team took the lead at Iran Stadium with a goal scored by the team’s top scorer Almoez Ali in the 17th minute, before Iran responded with a quadruple goal through Sardar Azmoun in the 42nd and 48th minutes, and Mohamed Mohebi in the 65th and 90th +8 minutes.

The Qatari start opened the scoring after Lucas Mendes sent a smart long pass that reached behind the defenders to Almoez Ali, who advanced into the penalty area before firing a powerful shot into the roof of the goal.

Iranian rush

After this goal, the Iranian team rushed to attack in an attempt to equalize the result, while the Qatari players calmed the game and tried to rotate the ball in search of launching counter-attacks. The Iranian team got an opportunity through Omid Nourafkan’s shot from outside the penalty area, which was controlled by goalkeeper Mishal. Barshim (31).

Then the most important Iranian opportunity was missed in the 32nd minute through Sardar Azmoun's shot from outside the penalty area, but the crossbar intervened to prevent him from scoring.

The Iranian national team succeeded in scoring the equalizing goal before the end of the first half after Azmoun rose to Omid Noorafkan’s cross to play a powerful header into the goal (42).

The model plays the lead role

The Qatar national team almost regained the lead following a corner kick taken by Afif, and Boualem Khoukhi rose to it to header the ball that bounced off the crossbar in the 45+2 minute.

The Iranian team responded through an attempt by Mohamed Mohebi, who followed Saeed Ezzatullah’s pass and shot from a narrow angle, but the ball bounced off the post meeting the crossbar at the 45th minute + 5.

The Iranian national team started the second half strongly, scoring the second goal in the 48th minute through Azmoun, who took advantage of the confusion of the defense and goalkeeper Barshim in dealing with a long pass and shot unmolested into the net.

After this goal, the Qatar national team returned to trying to launch attacks in order to adjust the score, while the Iranian national team relied on quick runs, which posed a threat to the goal on more than one occasion.

A lover ends all things

The Iranian national team succeeded in scoring the third goal through a quick attack through which the ball reached Azmoun, who advanced inside the area and passed to Mohamed Mohebi to turn the ball into an empty net in the 65th minute.

On the other hand, the Qatari team lost an opportunity after a series of passes before the ball inside the area reached Ibrahim Al-Hassan, who shot an attempt that passed close to the post in the 73rd minute.

During the remaining minutes, the Iranian national team controlled the proceedings, adding the fourth goal before the end of the second half following a corner kick that Mohamed Mohebi rose to head to the net (90+8).

The fifth round of group competitions will be held on November 14, where Qatar will meet Uzbekistan in Doha, the UAE will meet Kyrgyzstan in Abu Dhabi, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will meet Iran.