Team Melli can all but settle its claim for a spot at the 2014 World Cup, with a win against Uzbekistan in the FIFA World Cup 2014 – Asian Zone Qualifier on Wednesday.
When Group A joint leaders Iran hosts third-placed Uzbekistan, a win would take them to 10 points through five games – within one point of Carlos Queiroz’s men officially sewing up their spot in Brazil.
Conversely, the Uzbeks will be out to at least avoid defeat to ensure they remain in with a chance for a top-two spot, and automatic qualification to the finals when the two nations do battle at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.
Also in Group A, Qatar and Lebanon (both on four points) will go head to head in Doha, with both sides still well and truly in the race for a finals spot despite being the bottom two in the group.
Should Uzbekistan hold Iran, both the Lebanese and Qataris will be still alive heading into the final group game regardless of their result. Korea Rep, will have an off day on Wednesday.
The first clash in the qualifying round in Tashkent between Uzbekistan and Iran was one unusual event. Even before the match started, the Uzbeks were in dilemma having 5 of their regular players suspended for the match.
Having qualified for the next rounds with two games to spare in the previous round, Uzbek players near yellow-card suspensions thought the fifth game would be a good time for them to receive a second yellow so they could serve the suspension in the meaningless game and start the final round with a clean sheet. The AFC was wise to this scheme by the Uzbek and barred them all from the Iran game.
Ironically, those 5 absentees did not lessen the resolve of the brave Uzbek. The host dominated the game against Team Melli and had several scoring opportunities , one of which saw Jalal Hosseini clear the ball from inside his goal. A clear legitimate goal that was not seen by the referee or the linesman. Right at the end of the match, a counter attack took Karim Ansarifard on the right flank. The Perspolis striker spotted the run of Khalatbary in the middle and sent him a great ball across and Khalatbary made no mistake. It was a definite heart breaker for the Mirdjalal Kasimov players who were the better team throughout the match yet ended up losing all the three points.
Iran went on to continue the disappointing and below par performance as they played a goal-less draw with Qatar in front of capacity 100,000 fans in Azadi. To add salt to injury, Team Melli lost to Lebanon 1-0 in Beirut in the third round. That was the first ever loss to Lebanon in the history of the meetings between the two teams it was also the first ever goal scored by Lebanon.
Meanwhile Uzbekistan , still suffering from the disappointment of the loss to Iran , went on and played a 1-1 draw with Lebanon in Beirut , before bouncing back quite strongly against Korea republic in Tashkent with a 2-2 draw. Uzbekistan was once again the better team yet failed to get the result it was after.
The fourth round of this competition was defining for both Iran and Uzbekistan. Team Melli had the toughest task of the two teams when they had to face the group leaders Korea Rep. at Azadi , while Uzbekistan was in a desperate position and needed all the three points from their away game in Qatar.
With 100,000 vocal supporters, Iran took all the three points from the Koreans with a Nekounam goal, while Uzbekistan kept their hopes alive by beating Qatar in Doha.
The match in Azadi is too close to call. Iran , always a very tough opponent in Azadi , has s alight edge , while Uzbekistan will be fighting to the end and would not be too disappointed with at least a point.
Interestingly , this is the first time that Uzbekistan plays in Azadi stadium.
The majority of Team Melli players agree that this match is even more important than the last one against Korea Rep. and a win is absloutely vital for them to take them on the threshold of qualification. Carlos Queiroz also repeated the same sentiments and invited all the fans to Azadi asking them to carry the tric colr Iranian flags with them.
The match in Azadi will start at 19:00 Tehran time.
Head to Head meetings:
| H / A / N | Matches | W | D | L | Goals | + / – |
| H | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 – 0 | +0 |
| A | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 – 0 | +1 |
| N | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 – 1 | +5 |
| Total | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 – 1 | +6 |
| Date | Comp. | Final score | Stadium | Attendance | |
| 03.06.2012 | WC Qualifier | A | 1 – 0 | JAR Stadium -Tashkent | 9000 |
| 05.09.2009 | Friendly | A | 0 – 0 | Tashkent / Pakhtakor | 9500 |
| 11.07.2007 | Asian Cup / Group C | N | 2 – 1 | National Stadium Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur | 3000 |
| 14.12.1998 | Asian Games / AG | N | 4 – 0 | Suphachalasai | 3200 |