TEHRAN – Iran’s football team have once again failed to beat Uzbekistan, suffering a 3-1 defeat to the White Wolves in Tashkent.
Team Melli, coached by Amir Ghalenoei, have beaten Uzbekistan just once in their last eight meetings, while suffering three defeats during that period. Uzbekistan have undoubtedly made significant progress in recent years, but they are still not considered one of Asia’s traditional heavyweights.
Despite Iran’s disappointing results, the Football Federation of Iran has decided to continue working with Ghalenoei. The decision comes after Team Melli missed a historic opportunity at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where they failed to advance to the knockout stage. Yet, their campaign was celebrated as a success because Iran went through the tournament without suffering a defeat.
It is difficult to see that as anything more than a missed opportunity.
Iran’s U23 team also suffered a disappointing exit from the 2026 Asian Games, losing 4-1 to North Korea on Wednesday. It was a disastrous result for Hossein Abdi’s side and another worrying sign for the state of Iranian football.
Not long ago, Iran had the upper hand against teams such as Uzbekistan and North Korea. Today, however, victories over these sides have become increasingly difficult to achieve.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan defeated Uruguay 3-1, while South Korea recorded an impressive 3-0 victory over Ecuador.
Ghalenoei had promised to rejuvenate Team Melli and build a team for the future. However, we continue to see experienced players such as Ehsan Hajisafi and Shojae Khalilzadeh occupying places in the squad.
This cannot be the right path for Iranian football. Without a serious change in approach, the future of Iran’s national team could become increasingly uncertain.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: tehrantimes.com
