Lacklustre Iran complete obligatory act in Male

PFDC – MALE, A poor performance was enough for Iran to defeat the Maldives 1-0 in the second leg and 5-0 on aggregate in World Cup qualification round 2 thanks to a first half goal of Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari.

Carlos Queiroz made no changes to the starting lineup he had used in Tehran but in opposite to the first leg, Iran didn’t create dozens of chances against pushovers Maldives, but despite clearly dominating the proceedings only created a handful of scoring opportunites.

One of the best was finished off by Khalatbari from close range in injury time of first half, when Hadi Norouzi’s touch to a Khosro Heydari cross became the perfect serving for the sizzling winger.

Iran are now among the 20 Asian teams to compete in the third of four round of qualification. The draw for the next stage will take place in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.

Maldives – Iran 0-1 (0-1)
World Cup qualification round 2, Leg 2, Male

Goal: Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari (45’+1 / assist by Hadi Norouzi)

Iran: Rahmati – Heydari, Aghily (70′ Nosrati), Hosseini, Pouladi – Karimi, M. Zare (61′ P. Nouri), Hadadifar – Norouzi (78′ Zanidpour), Ansarifard, Khalatbari

Iranian players booked: Aghily, Zare, Ansarifard