Match Day 2 of the Third Round of FIFA World Cup Qualification

Team Melli managed a labored win against the UAE in Match Day 2 of the Third Round of FIFA World Cup qualification, with a solitary goal by Mehdi Ghayedi in Al-Ain. Iran and Uzbekistan now head the table of Group One after two rounds and will next meet each other in Tashkent. The top two teams of the group will directly qualify for the Finals of the FIFA World Cup in 2026, hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Ghalenoei’s Tactical Changes

Unsatisfied with the team’s performance against the Kyrgyz Republic, Ghalenoei made several changes to his lineup. Out went Azmoun, Hezbavi, Gholizadeh, and Yousefi, with Kanani, Hardani, Ezatollahi, and Jahanbakhsh filling their places. This brave move by Ghalenoei had an immediate impact on Iran’s game.

Match Dynamics

Despite the UAE taking control of the game with neat passing and ball distribution, Iran’s solid defense, particularly in the center with the duo Khalilzadeh and Kanani, formed a fortress that the UAE players struggled to penetrate. On the other hand, Team Melli wasted many balls and scoring opportunities.

While Team Melli’s overall ball distribution was much better than in the previous game, the final ball was often poor and wasteful. Ghaedi found the net in the 36th minute, but it was ruled offside. However, the Ittihad Kalba winger made no mistake in injury time, stealing the ball from his marker just inside the UAE box and shooting a wicked ball that left UAE keeper Khalid Eisa frozen, watching the ball hit the net.

Second Half Struggles

In the second half, UAE’s pressure increased. Azmoun and Gholizadeh were subbed in to give the forward line some impetus. The impact of the two players was immediate, especially Gholizadeh, who despite his eye-catching moves and dribbles, hurt the team’s chances by crying foul every time the UAE players challenged him. Mehdi Taremi, a supposed world-class player, was guilty of a horrible miss after a glorious pass from Azmoun. Azmoun himself was wasteful during an Iranian counterattack, making the wrong pass to Taremi surrounded by at least two defenders while Gholizadeh on his right, had miles of space and not a single defender near him.. Jahanbakhsh had earlier repeated the same mistake. The final pass and decision-making marred Team Melli’s performance.

Defensive Strengths and Weaknesses

On the positive side, the defensive plan was more effective, although balls directly from Shojaa and Kanani to the forwards were not fruitful, as Iran lacks pace up front. Saed Ezatollahi had a good day for a change, but Ghoddos and Jahanbakhsh still carry many question marks regarding their performance. Both were cautioned in the match. The silliest yellow card for Team Melli was for Beiranvand for time-wasting, which was so obvious that the excellent Korean referee could not ignore it. No sooner had Beiranvand received his yellow card than Milad Mohammadi got his yellow card too for the same offense on a throw-in. Totally unnecessary in such a level of competition.

Late Drama

There was some drama near the end when the referee called a penalty for UAE. allegedly for a handball on Hardani, while he was on the ground. A subsequent VAR check followed, and the referee canceled the kick with no sign of Hardani handling the ball at any stage.

Looking Ahead

With two wins out of two, Team Melli is beaming with confidence and slowly covering the gaps. It was not a polished performance by any means, but an improvement nevertheless. Ghalenoei must continue to refine his tactics and address the team’s weaknesses to ensure success in the upcoming matches.

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Starting Line-up

Khalid Eisa Khaled Ebraheim Abdulla Idrees Khalifa Al Hammadi Kouame Kouadio Tahnoon Al Zaabi Yahia Nader Abdulla Hamad Harib Abdalla Suhail Caio Canedo Yahya Al Ghassani

Alireza BEIRANVAND Hossein KANANI-ZADEGAN Milad MOHAMMADI Shojaa KHALILZADEH Saman GHODDOS Saeid EZATOLAHI Saleh HARDANI Omid NOORAFKAN Mehdi GHAEDI AliReza JAHANBAKHSH Mehdi TAREMI