In the third stage of the Asian region of the World Preliminaries, the fourth round of Group A ushered in a strong dialogue, the Asian Cup champion Qatar challenged the second-ranked Iran team in Asia, and the Qatar team took an early lead in the 17th minute, but after that, the Iran team launched a tidal counterattack, the number one star Azmoun doubled, Mohebi also scored a brace, and finally the Asian Cup champion Qatar who scored the first goal conceded 4 goals in a row, from a 1-0 lead to a 1-4 defeat!
Qatar has won the last two Asian Cups, and the world ranking has soared all the way to 34th in the world, so it is also firmly seeded in the second pot of 18 in the third stage of the Asian zone of the World Preliminary Championship, second only to Iran in Pot 1 in Group A. In the round of 18 draw, Qatar's luck is actually not good, in addition to Iran, Group A also has Uzbekistan and U.A.E., both of which are second-rate Asian teams, in addition to North Korea and Kyrgyzstan also performed well in the last stage, are more difficult opponents. Sure enough, Qatar suffered an upset in the first round of Group A of the Round of 18, losing 1-3 to U.A.E.! In the second round, Qatar still failed to win, drawing 2-2 with North Korea. It wasn't until the last round that Qatar finally got their first win, a 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan, and got the three points they hadn't seen for a long time.
In this round of the game, the Qatar team welcomed the strongest opponent in the group, Iran, and it was an away game, and the difficulty can be imagined! However, the start of the game was quite perfect for Qatar, and in the opening 17 minutes, a long pass from the back found Ali who was rushing forward, and Ali volleyed through the Iran goal, and Qatar took a 1-0 lead. Iran launched a tidal wave of counter-attacks after conceding the goal, and finally near the end of the first half, the team's number one star Azmoun equalized with a header from a diagonal 45-degree cross, Taremi at the front point attracted the attention of two Qatar defenders, Azmoun jumped high in the middle of the box to score with a hammer, and Iran equalized 1-1 to end the first half.
Shortly after the start of the second half, Iran quickly completed the score overtake, or Azmoun contributed to the team! Still a high cross with a diagonal 45 degrees, in the confusion, the Qatar goalkeeper was tripped by his own defender, Azmoun seized the opportunity to score another goal, and he scored two goals in this game to complete the double ring, Iran led 2-1. In the next game, Azmoun also provided an assist for teammate Mohebi, and a nanny assist in the box helped Mohebi push an empty goal in front of the goal, and Iran's lead was extended to 3-1. In stoppage time, Iran's front corner kick was driven to the penalty area, Mohebi grabbed the front point and shook his head to score another goal, Mohebi also completed a double ring, helping Iran lock the final score at 4-1, a reversal victory with four goals in a row!
With this victory, Iran won 3 and drew 1 in the first four rounds, tied Uzbekistan with 10 points, and beat Uzbekistan to become the leader of Group A on goal difference, which means that the three Pot 18 powerhouses in the entire round of 18 are all in place: Iran leads Group A, Korea leads Group B, and Japan leads Group C with an absolute advantage. Although our national football team defeated Indonesia 2-1 in this round to usher in its first victory, it is still at the bottom of Group C due to the obvious disadvantage of goal difference.