The Iranian national football team defeated the Iraqi team in the 3rd round match of the qualifying tournament for the 2012 FIFA World Cup in the AFC zone, thereby securing the right to play in the final stage.

The meeting of group A, held in Tehran, ended with a score of 1:0 in favor of the hosts, in which the striker of the “Portuguese” Porto Mehdi Taremi scored (48th minute).

Iranian striker, of Turkmen origin, Serdar Azmoun was unable to appear at the location of the national team due to disagreements between the Iranian Football Federation and “Zenit”.

The Iranian national team scored 19 points after 7 games and with 3 rounds before the end of the 3rd qualifying round, they are in the lead, ahead of the third UAE team, which has 9 points. The Iranians will no longer fall below second place in the group (it is occupied by the Republic of Korea team with 17 points after 7 matches), which also gives the right to direct access to the World Cup. The teams will play 10 matches in total.

4 teams will advance to the final tournament, another team will participate in the intercontinental play-offs.

The Iranians became the second team in Asia to qualify for the finals of the tournament. Qatar will play at the World Cup as the host of the competition.

Previously, the Iranian national team took part in the World Cups in 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014 and 2018 and never managed to overcome the group stage.

Teams from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Serbia, France, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, England and the Netherlands have already qualified for the tournament through qualifying competitions.

For the first time in history, the largest football tournament will be held in the Middle East. In this regard, the timing of the matches will change dramatically. Usually the world championship takes place in the summer, but the 2022 World Cup will be held at the end of the year - from November 21 to December 18.