After drawing 2-2 with Uzbekistan on Tuesday in Tehran, Iranians became the second Asian team to qualify for the next-year World Cup.
Iran, the second-highest ranked AFC team in the standings, only needed a point to beat Japan in the finals against the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Mehdi Taremi scored in Mehdi Taremi’s second of the match seven minutes from time to seal the point for Group A leaders at the Azadi Stadium, which was followed by up-and-coming Uzbekistan.
Khojimat Erkinov, a goalkeeper for Uzbekistan, opened the scoring on 16 minutes, before Taremi, the opener for Inter Milan, scored his first goal of the night shortly after half-time.
Abbosbek Fayzullaev restored Uzbekistan’s lead after just one minute of silence.
Once more, Taremi’s finish over goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov in the late period proved to be the catalyst for his team’s revival and ultimately earn them a spot in North America.
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Fourth successive World Cup will be played by Iran.
Uzbekistan will continue to prepare for its first final appearance.
A win in June against third-placed Qatar or Qatar, who is second overall, will suffice, even though they could move up a spot sooner.
Later on Tuesday, the UAE, who are tied with Qatar by ten points, will face the bottom-ranked North Korea. Uzbekistan will advance to the finals if the UAE loses.
The top two teams advance through the qualifying round, with third and fourth places awarded to third and fourth overall in Asia.
Australia defeated China 2-0 earlier on Tuesday to increase their chances of being automatically qualified, but Saudi Arabia held on to lead Group C with a goalless draw in Japan.
South Korea, led by Son Heung-min, are still the top and favorites to advance in Asian Group B, but Jordan’s 1-1 defeat at home for the second consecutive match kept them at bay.
With two games left, the Socceroos were second in Group C, three points ahead of Saudi Arabia, who had a much better goal difference, thanks to Australia’s victory. Japan will undoubtedly come out on top.
The race for the second-straight qualification spot is on the verge of a knife-edge as Australia hosts Japan and travels to Saudi Arabia for their final qualifiers in June. China’s bottom spot is six points, but third or fourth place would allow them to advance to the next qualifying round.
With a 1-0 victory over Bahrain, Indonesia moved into fourth place with nine points.
Ole Romeny’s second goal in as many games earned Netherlands legend Patrick Kluivert his first victory as manager since taking over.
After recording the same result last week against Oman, South Korea and second-placed Jordan drew 1-1 in Suwon.
With two victories to go, South Korea would have qualified for the final two games.
They need four points to be certain of progressing in their final home game against Kuwait in June, which will require them to do without relying on other outcomes.
If they defeat Palestine in Amman in the later round of negotiations, Iraq can leapfrog them and close the gap by one point to the top of Group B. Despite being three points behind South Korea, Jordan is still three points behind.
