Fifa World Cup: UAE's hopes still alive despite defeat, Korea qualify

The UAE remain third but their lead over fourth-placed Lebanon is reduced to three points with two games to go. (UAEFA Twitter)

UAE's best hope will now be on finishing third in Group A to advance to the playoff round

By Reuters

Published: Tue 1 Feb 2022, 11:49 PM

Ten-man Iran extended their unbeaten run in the AFC World Cup Qualifiers to eight matches with a 1-0 home win over the UAE in Group A on Tuesday.

The defeat ended UAE’s hopes of earning an automatic berth at this year’s World Cup.

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With Iran and South Korea already earning their World Cup berths, UAE’s best hope will now be on finishing third in Group A to advance to the playoff round.

Only the top two teams in each group earn automatic qualification for the 2022 World Cup, with the two third-placed teams (in Group A and Group B) needing to fight a playoff battle to advance to the final playoff round against a team from South America.

Iran had already qualified to Qatar 2022 last week after beating Iraq 1-0, but they still fielded a full strength side and produced another win and a clean sheet despite their numerical disadvantage for over 40 minutes at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

UAE’s first shot on target arrived in the last minute of the opening half when full-back Bandar Al Ahbabi tested Abedzadeh from a long range free-kick, but the Iranian goalkeeper calmly collected it.

The stalemate was finally ended by the home side after Jahanbakhsh sent a cross from the right that was headed against the upright by Ali Gholizadeh before Taremi followed through on the half-volley to give Iran the lead.

Coach Bert van Marwijk threw all his attacking weapons in an attempt to find the equaliser, but goalkeeper Abedzadeh stood tall to deny Caio and Sebastian Tagliabue on multiple occasions to help Iran hold out for the victory.

The result means Iran increase their tally to 22 points, two ahead of South Korea who also booked their World Cup berth on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the UAE remain third but their lead over fourth-placed Lebanon is reduced to three points with two games to go.

In Group A, South Korea also booked their place at the World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday after Paulo Bento’s side beat Syria 2-0 in Dubai to confirm their progress to a 10th consecutive finals.

Second-half goals from Kim Jin-su and Kwon Chang-hoon ensured the Koreans continue a run of successive qualifications that stretches back to Mexico in 1986 as they wrapped up a top-two finish in Group A of Asia’s preliminaries.

Kim Jin-su put the Koreans in front eight minutes into the second half, the Jeonbuk Motors left back rising to meet Kim Tae-hwan’s cross from the right and power his header home.

Kwon Chang-hoon made sure of the win 18 minutes from fulltime with a dipping left-footed strike from outside the area that bounced beyond goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma.

Lebanon and Iraq drew 1-1, further diminishing both of those nations’ chances of finishing third in Group A.

Japan, meanwhile, closed in on the finals with a 2-0 victory over Group B leaders Saudi Arabia at Saitama Stadium that moves Hajime Moriyasu’s side to within a point of the summit.

Takumi Minamino and Junya Ito were on target for the Samurai Blue as they handed Herve Renard’s side a first defeat of the current round of preliminaries.

Winger Ito rolled the ball to Minamino and his attempt was powerful enough to prevent Mohammed Al Owais from keeping it out as Japan went in front in the 32nd minute.

Five minutes after the restart Ito went from provider to goalscorer with a stunning strike from the edge of the area, leaving Al Owais with no chance as the ball flew into the top corner.

Vietnam picked up their first win of the campaign as their 3-1 victory in Hanoi ended China’s slim hopes of finishing third in Group B and claiming a playoff berth.