AFC: Iran aims to make Impact in 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Tasnim – KUALA LUMPUR, Iran will be looking to make an impact on the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s website said.

Uzbekistan will expect to advance to the knockout stage on home soil but Thursday’s draw would have left the team fearing the unknown after being drawn alongside Iran, Qatar and debutant Turkmenistan, it wrote.

Uzbekistan has enjoyed success in the last two editions of the tournament – winning the title in 2018 and finishing fourth two years ago – but will be wary of their group stage opponents come June.

Iran and Qatar, big hitters at the senior level, will be looking to make an impact on a tournament neither has won before and this spells danger for Uzbekistan.

Qatar’s best was a third-placed finish in 2018 while Iran has not featured in the semi-finals of the previous four editions and Uzbekistan 2022 could well be the platform for both to deliver.

Turkmenistan will be an unknown quantity for all three teams and the Central Asian side will relish the opportunity of testing itself against higher ranked opposition in its debut AFC U-23 Asian Cup appearance.