Beach Soccer World Cup: Iran Defeat Mexico, Qualify for the Quarterfinals[VIDEO]

PFDC – Iran defeated Mexico by a score of 3-2 in its last match of the group stage in the 2015 Beach Soccer World Cup in Espinho Portugal, to book its second consecutive quarterfinals’ appearance in the competition.

For the third time in as many matches, Team Melli took the lead with less than 2 minutes on the clock with a long range shot from Akbari, but failed to convert its chances in the remainder of the period, despite a one man advantage after a Mexican red card.

Ahmadzadeh doubled Iran’s lead less than two minutes into the 2nd period with a wonderfully struck bicycle kick and Dara gave Iran a three goal lead 21 seconds later off a rebound in front of the net.  But it was the Mexicans who took charge for the rest of the period, scoring two goals in minutes 19 and 22.

Both teams missed their chances in the third period and Iran held on for a valuable win that set a few records for Team Melli, including the most wins in a World Cup (2), as well as most number of points (6) and the least goals against (11) in the group stage.

On Monday, fellow AFC members Japan also booked their spot in the knock-out round to give the fans in the world’s largest and most populous continent, their fair share of teams to support, for the second time running.

Iran will face Tahiti who finished on top of Group D with 9 points, on Thursday July 16th.  This is Iran’s 3rd match of the tournament against one of the last edition’s semi-finalists!  The two teams have never met in a competitive match before.

Iran-Tahiti Match Time:  18:30 local time, 13:30 EST, 19:30 CEST, 22:00 Tehran time.